Of Birds and Bugs
by Angels-Gift
Summary: It seems that everyone in the Rookie Nine and Team Gai are paired off. With the exception of a certain Aburame Shino. Not that he minds of course. His teammates, on the other hand, are a different story. ShinoOC
1. Meeting Sohlum

Of Birds And Bugs

by Angels-Gift

_Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto_

**_Summary_**: It seems that everyone in the Rookie Nine and Team Gai are paired off. With the exception of a certain Aburame Shino. Not that he minds of course. His teammates, on the other hand, are a different story. ShinoOC

**Author's Note**: Hello everyone and welcome to my first posted Naruto fic! This is a sort of side story to a new fic I'm planning to post but this one can be read as a stand-alone. An important note, all my OC's are based on actual people I have met or known in my life and all 'stupid' or 'crazy' actions and/or things that they do are based off of real experiences. NOT KIDDING THERE!

**Many thanks to Anna for reading my story and coming up with most of these ideas! And also thanks to her for being my OC, Sala!**

* * *

Aburame Shino was normally a well composed, calm, orderly and a tad creepy ninja, but a good ninja none-the-less. Being a member of the Aburame Clan, and its heir, at birth, he was infused with a special breed of bugs called kikaichu, or destruction bugs. The bond between the bugs and shinobi worked in complete symbiosis. The kikaichu feed on the Aburame's chakra and in return, the bugs do the shinobi's bidding, ranging from attacking to spying. Given this bond, and his acute ability to understand and speak to bugs, Shino was well prepared for any danger that came his way.

Except this one.

The one danger that he could not, and would never be able to prepare for. The danger came in the form of a human, a shinobi and his previous teammate to be exact. It was not Hinata. That is, unless Hinata suddenly changed gender, name, apperance, adopted a large dog named Akamaru, suddenly because a member of the Inuzuka Clan, adopted a very annoying personality and horrid table manners.

No, the danger was and always will be, one Inuzuka Kiba.

Dodging bits of ramen coming from said shinobi, Shino glared silently at the dog-nin behind his black sunglasses while Hinata sighed beside him. "I-I'm sure Kiba-kun didn't do that on purpose, Shino-kun," assured the Hyuuga, patting Shino gently on the shoulder as he flicked a piece of stray ramen off his shoulder.

The bug user nodded at his once teammate and resolved to observe his surroundings rather than focus of his badly mannered tablemate. His protected eyes scanned the Ichiraku Ramen Bar where, currently, held a small reunion of the Rookie Nine and Team Gai. Apparently, they were celebrating the anniversary that Orochimaru and all of Sound had fallen, mainly, to the hands of Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke, who had slayen his elder brother a few months prior. It had been one year ago and since then, many things had changed.

One by one, or rather two by two, his fellow rookies and, more or less, trusted shinobi fellows had fallen in love. Hard. If what a certain Hyuuga Neji had believed, that fate controlled their lives, then fate had certainly enjoyed playing games with their love lives. It started out a few monthes before the fall of the Sound, that Tsunade had sent all 12 of them to a hidden country buried deep in the Forest of Chaos. It was an S-classed mission.

The country, which they later found to be the Land of the Wings, had once had deep ties with Konoha, as well as the rest of the shinobi world, but broke them when they found themselves belittled and mocked by all larger and more powerful lands. Hiding themselves in the large, dangerous forest, they kept to themselves for many years until Tsunade decided that more allies would be for better in their persuit to destroy the Sound once and for all. Ironically, for 12 supposedly well trained and powerful shinobi, they were ambused by a pack of untrained, and equally powerful creatures.

When they awoke, they were in the country they spent weeks to find. The leader of the lands, Tsubasa Kuzusu, had regarded them with the utmost respect, for able to fend themselves from the dangerous creatures for longer a period of time than any have and accepted them with open arms. Matters led to matters and they were introduced to his family, his clan. Shino had only supposed that Kuzusu's name was irony for what he was for his name ment 'Wings of Destruction' although he managed a large land of peace and prosperity for almost all of his life and a family as large as any's.

Glancing at the female shinobi speaking quietly to the Uchiha, Shino gave a mental smirk. It was she who had started the domino chain of love confessions and relationships. Tsubasa Setsuna was her name. The eldest daughter of Kuzusu's two children, with a younger sister by the name of Eternity, she was the one who convinced her fellow shinobi to save them from the pack of creatures. It was her that convinced her father to allow her fellow cousins to leave the Land of the Wings and ally themselves with Konoha. It was also her that convinced her entire land to reveal themselves to the rest of the world.

However, it was not only convincing her fellows to leave and fight that she did, she had also managed to capture the attention of the survivor of the Uchiha Clan. Since the downfall of the Sound, she and Sasuke had hit it off quite well, and it was their blossoming relationship that eventually led to Hinata to store up her courage and ask Naruto out. It was that date that led to Hyuuga Neji to go berserk and Tenten to calm him down, leading to a date between the two. Following the two was Yamanaka Ino and her loud complaining to Nara Shikamaru that they didn't go anywhere, eventually leading to a new relationship between the loudmouth and lazy genius.

It also seemed, that with the appearence of Setsuna, her rather overprotective cousins came into the scene as well, to assure the heir's safety and to make sure ties with Konoha were well. However, their appearence did much more than look good for politics. Tsubasa Owen, the smartest of Setsuna's cousin at the ripe age of 18, a member of the second house, or branch, of the Tsubasa Clan, had manged to catch the eye of a certain Haruno Sakura. Regretebly, his messy teammate's relationship had started with the appearence of a Tsubasa also. Tsubasa Sin-Lin to be exact. A member of the fourth house and the owner to three dogs of her own, after much arguing and fighting with the Inuzuka, the two managed to push aside some hateful feelings and go out.

Akimichi Choji and Rock Lee were not to be forgotten either, although they did not end up with any Tsubasa's themselves. They met up with a few fellow Konoha ninja, by the names of Mitsuno Hana and Noka Natsumi, and the quartet hit it off rather well.

Even the Sand Siblings were paired off as well, not that anybody could predict it. Sabaku no Gaara, the number one most untouchable guy in the ninja world, had somehow gotten entangled in the traps of Tsubasa Yuri, a member of the fifth house of Tsubasa and Setsuna's more violet tempered and easily to set off cousin. Her twin brothers, who were surpisingly even tempered and practical jokesters that could pull off any joke or prank better than Naruto could, had become attracted to Gaara's sister, Temari. Leo and Tauro, they were named, after the constillations, chased after the Sand Sibling and often fought with each other for her attention, had often amused Temari with their antics and pleas to notice them. The last he was informed, Tauro had the luck to bring her to the movies while Leo began with his flirting attemps with Kiba's elder sister Hana.

Apparently, it seemed, all three Sand Sibs had attracted members of fifth house of Tsubasa because somehow, Kankuro had ended up with Tsubasa Sala, a bad tempered girl with physical strength that could be compared to the that of five fully grown men. He somewhat pitied the man when Sala became pissed with him and set his puppets on fire. Then again, the shoe ended up on the other foot when the puppeteer set Sala's most prized puppet in return. He, like many mentally stable people, honestly wondered how the two could end up dating when they fought like and old married couple every 5 seconds.

Well, it was best not to question the mystery of life.

That left him.

Lonely Shino.

Not that he minded. He enjoyed the peace, the quiet he recieved and the little pressure he had of not having to support a female's feelings.

"SHINO!"

He said he didn't mind. That didn't mean that his 'friends' didn't.

He glanced at his dog obsessed teammate for a moment. "Yes?"

"You have a girlfriend?" asked the dog-nin curiously. The rest of the ninjas looked up from their ramen at the mention of this question. Shino gave a mental sigh at how quickly their attention can shift when it came to his love life.

"Why?" He asked as a reply, not quite understanding why his previous teammate would want to know if he had a girlfriend or not. He would rot in hell before he would admit not understanding something to Kiba though.

Said ninja shrugged. "It's just that all of us are going out with someone and you don't seem to be mentioning going out with anyone."

This reply caught the attention of most of the females in the ramen stand. "Yeah, Shino! Do you have a girlfriend?" asked Ino, eyeing at the nin interestedly.

"Is she pretty?" questioned Sakura, following Ino's gaze.

"Is she a ninja?" wondered Tenten, looking at the quiet bug-user.

"Is she nice?" asked Hinata from beside him. She seemed genuinely interested in her friend's love life, seeing as Shino barely mentioned anything about him other than his father on very rare occations.

Shino raised his eyebrow at the explosion of questions. "No, I do not have a girlfriend."

"Then you should get one," shouted Uzumaki Naruto. Throughout the stand, Uchiha Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru and Hyuuga Neji shook their heads while Choji ate his ramen with loud slurps, barely aware of the conversation held. Rock Lee merely grinned at Naruto's comment and supported getting a girlfriend with loud proclamations of 'youth'. Kiba nodded.

"Baka. Finding a girlfriend isn't an easy thing," said Sasuke, rolling his eyes.

"But Shino-san didn't even mention that he wanted a girlfriend in the first place," pointed out Setsuna, glancing at him with an amused glint shining him her eyes. "Do you, Shino-san?"

Shino's eyebrow rose slightly. "No, I don't."

It seemed that only Setsuna, Sasuke, Neji, Shikamaru and Shino were the only ones who didn't make a big commotion about his comment. Loud screams and shouts of 'You don't want a girlfriend?!' and 'Why don't you?!' rang though the streets of Konoha. While the shouts and screams gradually died, Shino gently patted his ears, trying to dull the ringing sound in his head from having so many females and a few men yell in them.

"No, I do not have a girlfriend nor do I want one," he repeated calmly, regaining his calm, distant posture. Before another round of shouting occured, he held up his hand. "Can you think of one good reason why a female would want me as they're boyfriend besides the fact I am a shinobi?"

"W-Well, Shino-san. You're, you're," Sakura ended her sentence there, ideas racing in her head of what Shino had that might make him a good boyfriend.

"Because, Shino-san. YOU ARE FULL OF YOUTH!" shouted Rock Lee, in a 'Good Guy' pose, teeth pinging.

The ramen stand grew quiet as its customers either sweatdropped or face-faulted at the idea of Shino being 'full of youth' and acting like Lee. "N-No, Lee!" shouted Tenten, regaining her composure. "Well, Shino-san, you're quiet and a good listener, a girl could talk to you easier," she suggested, smiling.

"Don't take that bait, Shino," called out Shikamaru lazily. He pointed a thumb at Ino. "Otherwise you'll end up with a girl like her."

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN?!" demanded Ino into Shikamaru's ear.

The shadow-nin winced and nearly fell out of his seat at Ino's sudden shout. "I mean that, troublesome woman," he said, holding his ears.

Which wasn't a really smart thing to say or do for a lazy genius. That comment resulted in another shouting rampage from the blond while their spectators tried to think of a good reason why Shino would make a good boyfriend.

"W-Well. S-Shino-kun's smart and a good friend," commented Hinata, smiling at her friend shyly.

"But Hinata-chan, we're aiming for more than friends! And besides, if a person's smart, they'll either end up like Sasuke-teme, that lazy-ass Shikamaru or an ice cube like Neji," said Naruto, oblivious to the looks said prodigies gave them with the exception of Shikamaru, who fell asleep.

Sakura gave a loud growl from beside the soon-to-be Hokage. "And what about Owen-kun then? Do you have a problem with him?" she forced out, clawing at the table.

Naruto scratched his head, thinking. "Well, Owen-kun's smart but he's kinda stupid when it comes to romance, don't you think, Sakura-chan? It took him that long for him to realize that you liked him and that he liked you back."

Sasuke scoffed from beside him. "At least Owen took less time than you did for realizing Hinata's feelings for you and your feelings for her."

Setsuna and Sakura sweatdropped as the two started arguing and quite loudly. "Now, now," interrupted Setsuna, placing a hand on both Team 7 boy's shoulders. "Granted, Owen is naturally very smart but it's in his nature to be incredibly dunce in the way of feelings and liking someone. And besides, we were talking about Shino-san?"

"Well, Shino's. . .Shino's. . .well, you could say he's sort of kind of cute in a bug liking sort of way, right?" spoke Ino, glancing at the girls who seemed to give the bug-user a second glance before thinking things out in their own minds. Certain boys in the room, however, became very, very jealous that their girlfriends were looking at the Aburame and not them, which Shino noted with mental amusement.

Setsuna opened her mouth to speak but stopped when she heard something. "Did you hear that?" she asked, glancing at the Konoha shinobi with sudden sharp eyes. Several of them nodded while others readied themselves for a possible attack. The sound rang again, this time louder. Gradually, Setsuna inched out of her seat and placed a hand on her kunai holder.

"SETSUNA-SAMA!"

The Tsubasa was immediatly thrown back into her seat as a purple and black blur charged against her stuck to her, shaking occationaly. The group glanced at the blur with sharp eyes, examining it but was stopped as Setsuna raised a hand.

She sighed with a look of quiet torture as she began patting the thing gently. She winced a little as the thing wrapped its arms around her waist and tightened its grip on her. "Now, now Sohlum (Sol-um)-chan. Calm down and tell me what's wrong," whispered the Tsubasian ninja with a tone of motherness and quiet patience.

The thing mumbled something in a different language, which the spectators guessed was Tsubasian, the Land of the Wing's native language. They didn't count on Setsuna sighing, shaking her head. "Sohlum, this is the second time this month you lost it."

All the Konoha shinobi sent her a questioning glance, which she ignored. Suddenly, the thing's head shot up, revealing a face. At the sight of it, Ino, Sakura, Tenten and Hinata gave squeals. The thing, or rather the girl, was staring up at Setsuna with large, purple eyes filled with tears. It was at that moment that Shino recognized her as one of the Tsubasians that he had previouly met, perhaps a member of the third house judging by her hair, eyes and clothing choice.

Setsuna sighed and helped the young girl stand up, which was an amazing feat considering that the girl was clinging onto her for dear life. When she did manage to let go, however, it was revealed that she was several inches shorter than the elder looking Tsubasa, possibly half a foot shorter than Shino himself. Like the members of the third house of Tsubasa, her eyes were purple, tinted with blue and black. Her hair, like all those of the third house, was black, straight and most likely uncut for many years. Similar to Setsuna's cousin Manni, who also belonged to the third house, her hair contained streaks of purple and blue, although her's was tied in a low ponytail that she threw over her left shoulder, two locks falling out to frame her face. Following the traditions of those in her house, she wore a traditional Chinese-style dress, lavender in color with black designs that split open in the center in her mid-thigh to reveal a pair of black shorts.

At first glance, she was very innocent looking, gentle and very cute like a 5 year old child. However, none of the shinobi could deny that she was, to some extent, a ninja in her own right seeing her headband, a pair of miniature wings etched into the stainless metal. The kunai holders strapped around her waist was also a dead give-away but what really drew their eyes was the beautiful looking longbow that the girl held in her hand.

Lavender in color, the tips, along with the string, was dyed black, fading as it reached the center. Dark purple designs of feathers were etched into the bow and a pair of miniature wings were etched purple beside the bow hold on each side. On the hold, in black, bold letters, was the word 'Natsumi' that occationally shimmered in the given light from the stand. All in all, it was a beautiful bow, rich in color and well taken care of. The proof was the shine it gave when in the correct light.

The girl, or Solum which Setsuna called her, looked at the Tsubasa Clan heir with big eyes. "I-I know, Setsuna-sama, but I really can't find her this time," the girl whimpered, her voice causing most shinobi's eyes to soften. At the end of her sentence, she gave a loud cry and buried her face in Setsuna's shoulder and cried.

"Now, now Sohlum-chan. Don't worry, we'll find her. We always do, don't we?" Gently, she patted the crying nin on the back, throwing Sasuke a pleading look to help her. The Uchiha glanced from his girlfriend to the other girl before holding his hands up as if to give up.

"B-But what if we don't, this time, Setsuna-sama? W-What if we don't?" the girl gave a tremble, nearly falling on the floor had it not been for Setsuna, who managed to hold her up with one hand, the other clutching onto Sasuke. Barely managing to balance herself, Setsuna threw Sasuke a glare before letting go and went back to trying to tame Sohlum and her loud cries.

"Don't think those thoughts, Sohlum-chan. We'll find her, don't worry."

Slowly, Sohlum lifted her head and nodded. "H-Hai, Setsuna-sama." She gently wiped her tears with the long sleves of her robes and smiled cutely. "Hai!"

"You're so cute!" chirped Ino from her seat.

Two spots of pink appeared on Sohlum's cheeks as she took note of her audience and smiled shyly. "A-Arigato." She looked up at the Tsubasa heir, who merely motioned for her to introduce herself. Slowly, the younger Tsubasa nodded, clutching onto her longbow a bit tighter. "O-Ohayo, mina-san. I am Tsubasa Sohlum. I'm a member of the third house of Tsubasa and I'm distantly related to Setsuna-sama and a distant cousin of Manni-sama and Riku-sama." She gave a slightly confident smile and bowed.

Sakura smiled. "Hello, Tsubasa-san."

Sohlum quickly interrupted. "Oh no, Sohlum is fine with me."

"Alright then, Sohlum," said Sakura. She squealed loudly when Sohlum gave another chibi smile. "I'm Haruno Sakura."

A look of remembrence appeared on the young ninja's face. "I know you. Owen-nii-kun told me about you before! Are you Owen-nii-kun's girlfriend?" she asked innocently. The blush of Sakura's face seemed to answer her question immediatly.

"Y-yes. That's Uchiha Sasuke," pointing to the boy sitting next to Setsuna. Sohlum looked like she was about to say something but stopped. "That is Uzumaki Naruto." The blond gave the girl a wave, too busy slurping up his ramen to say anything. " Right over there is Inuzuka Kiba and his dog Akamaru" Both dog and nin gave waves, which Sohlum returned. "Beside him is Hyuuga Hinata." Said Hyuuga gave a smile, which Sohlum returned. "Next to me is Yamanaka Ino and beside her is Nara Shikamaru. The boy eating ramen is Akimichi Choji. The guy wearing spandex is Rock Lee."

"YOSH! HELLO MY BEAUTIFUL FLOWER!" Lee shouted. Sohlum stared at him before she blushed chibi-like and bowed.

"Next to him is Tenten."

Tenten stood up and bowed politely to the younger girl. "Ohayo, Sohlum-san," she greeted.

"Ohayo, Tenten-san," replied Sohlum, bowing as well.

Tenten squealed slightly and wrapped the cute girl in a warm hug. "You're so cute," she complimented, looking at the girl.

The chibi-blush on the girl's cheeks grew a bit as she returned the hug. "Arigato, Tenten-san. And you're very pretty."

This comment caused Tenten to tighten her hug, not that the younger girl minded. Sakura and Ino glared at the weapon mistress with envy as Sohlum's blush grew a bit more. Finally, Tenten let the girl go, returning to her seat with a motherly smile. "This is Hyuuga Neji," she informed the girl, motioning to the quiet boy beside him.

"Hello," he greeted Sohlum. Said girl returned the greeting with a bow. Straightening herself, Sohlum's eyes widened at the sight of the Hyuuga prodigy.

"You look like Riku-nii-san!" she exclaimed, examining at the 18 year old closer. "May I hug you?" she asked innocently, causing all of the shinobi to glance at the ice cube with wide eyes. On one hand, Neji was known to be devoid of emotions, except for the ones of hate and annoyance and the occational ones of love for Tenten. Therefore, it would be logical for him to decline, causing the girl to cry. On the other hand, Sohlum was very innocent and cute looking, giving the prodigy puppy-dog eyes that no one would ever want to face.

(A.N. So true. . . I'm speaking from personal experience here, ya don't wanna see 'em, ever!)

"Just let the girl hug you, Neji-kun and I won't kill you," said Tenten, tugging at Neji's sleeve.

Faced with one very cute looking nin and a very dangerous girlfriend, Neji gave a defeated sigh and gave the barest of nodds. Sohlum gave a wide smile and immediatly wrapped her arms around the elder boy's neck. Tenten smiled in approval and gave her boyfriend a light kiss on the cheek. A line of red appeared on the Hyuuga prodigy's face as he took note that Sohlum wasn't about to let go any time soon.

After a few moment, Sohlum let go, giving Neji a very bright smile. "May I call you Neji-nii-san, Neji-san?"

Neji was about to say no when he took note of the threatning look in Tenten's eyes that screamed 'Say no and I'll kill you Hyuuga Neji' along with the ones that promised a painful death from Ino and Sakura. Setsuna gave him a hard glare while Hinata looked at him as if to dare him to say no. The looks on the male occupent's faces were of pure sympathy and pity which he felt that he deserved at the moment. Now, what would a smart man do at the moment, faced with a chibi cute girl and 5 very dangerous girls armed with weapons of murder?

"Fine."

The occupents looked, with amusement, as Sohlum clapped her hands in delight and gave Neji a tight hug which he was not able to squeeze out of. "Yay!" she cried, tightning her grip on her.

Tenten took note of the slight blue color on Neji's face after a few minutes of hugging and smiled. "Now, Sohlum, I think you should let go of Neji-nii-san. He needs to breathe."

Sohlum let go and bowed. "Gomen, Neji-nii-san. I guess I got carried away," she mumbled. 'Neji-nii-san' nodded in reply, taking deep breaths of air while massaging his sore neck.

"Where's Shino-kun?" asked Hinata, looking around.

The others looked at the blank seat beside Hinata and Kiba and began looking around the ramen stand for the missing bug user. "Where could he have gone?" wondered Kiba, looking around.

"Did anyone even notice him gone?" asked Shikamaru, suddenly awake.

"W-Well, when Sohlum asked Neji-nii-san if she could call him Neji-nii-san, I turned around to ask Shino-kun something but he was gone," explained Hinata, worry etched on her face.

"Don't worry, Hinata-chan, we'll find him," assured Naruto.

"Find who?"

The group turned to see Shino, eyebrow raised, holding something in his hands.

"You, Shino! Where were you?" demanded Ino.

"I went to go to the bathroom and on my way back, I found this on the window of a shop," he answered, holding his hand out to reveal a purple shelled beetle around the size of glue stick cap with a pair of corkscrew like antennae.

"Saki-chan!" chirped Sohlum. She ran up to Shino and placed her hand before the purple bug. Slowly, its antennae straightened and probed the girl's hand as it watched patiently. Gradually, the bug's antennae returned to its original corkscrew form and crawled onto the smiling girl's hand. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"I told you that you would find her," said Setsuna, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

Looking at the heir with a smile on her face, she nodded. "Hai, Setsuna-sama. You were right!"

"S-Sohlum-chan. What is that thing?" asked Ino, pointing to the bug with an expression of fright.

A questioning glance was sent the Yamanaka's way. "You mean Saki-chan?" Ino nodded, still shocked. "This is a special, very rare breed of bug found in the Forest of Chaos. Manni-sama and Riku-sama gave her to me for my birthday when they found I was interested in them!"

"And since then, Sohlum has lost Saki more times than there are people in Konoha," explained Setsuna, glancing at the bug with an expression of mock hate. "It's only because that bug means more to Sohlum than most material possesions that she was able to keep her. And it's only because Sohlum would cry if Saki were to ever die that Sala had not killed off the bug yet."

"Would she really do that, Setsuna-sama?" asked Sohlum, eyes filled with tears.

"Of course not," said Setsuna quickly. "Of course not, Sala-chan would never do that."

Sohlum immediatly perked up and nodded, facing Shino with a look of awe. "Arigato," she stopped, not knowing the Aburame's name.

"Aburame Shino," filled in the bug user.

The Tsubasa's look of awe didn't once change. "Arigato, Aburame-san! Arigato, arigato, arigato!"

What Shino, nor anyone, expected was for Sohlum to wrap her arms around Shino's waist and cling onto him as if he was her life line, bug safely perched on Sohlum's shoulder. Shino looked down at the girl with a look of slight surpise but Sohlum didn't budge, only tightened her hold. Had he had less control over his emotions, he would have blushed, but he was an Aburame and therefore, he had control over his blush, even though it was very, very little control.

Before anyone could stop her, however, her grip tightened to a point where Shino began to twitch. Sohlum opened her mouth and started talking in an nonunderstandable language that only Setsuna seemed to be able to translate. The language the girl was speaking in, Tsubasain it seemed to be, started out slow but as Sohlum began talking more, her pace began faster to a point where everything she said was a large clump.

The shinobi turned to Setsuna, who was unconsciously twitching at a few words that she could make out from Sohlum's rant. Her mouth was open and her left eye gave off an occational twitch as she stared at her younger relative. Her face practically screamed 'What the hell' as Sohlum began pronunciating certain words at various times, making Setsuna's jaw drop lower.

After a few more minutes, Setsuna managed to snap out of her trance and close her mouth, although she gave one more twitch of her eye before stopping. Regaining her composure, she took in a large breath and let it out. "S-Sohlum-chan, I don't think Shino-san wants you to hug him right now," said Setsuna, staring at the sight of the bug-nin being hugged by her sweet innocent relative with wide eyes.

Sohlum let go immediatly and blushed, looking at the ground, ashamed. "G-Gomen, Aburame-san."

"Shino," he said, glancing at the girl, who looked at him with a questioning look. "Call me Shino."

The younger Tsubasa smiled brightly and nodded. "Hai, Shino-san!"

"Sohlum-chan, do you wanna sit with me?" asked Tenten, motioning to the stool next to her, smiling innocently at the glaring Hyuuga on the floor.

"But won't Neji-nii-san be upset that I took his seat?" asked the girl, clutching onto her bow nervously. Shino raised an eye at the new name for the stoic Hyuuga. "I-I don't wanna upset Neji-nii-san."

"Of course it won't upset Neji-nii-san, would it?" asked Tenten, glaring at Neji with a look that dared him to say no.

The Hyuuga sweatdropped and sighed. "I'll be fine, Sohlum."

The Tsubasa squealed and jumped into the seat, hugging the Hyuuga, who was moving into the stool next to his previous one's. He, obviously unprepared, clenched on the wooden pole near him as Sohlum hugged his waist particularly hard, his knuckles turning a pasty white. "Arigato, Neji-nii-san," she said, letting go of her tight hold on the poor teen's waist and jumped into her new seat next to a very amused Tenten.

Neji nodded weakly and stumbled into his stool, rubbing his waist with a wince. "What's the matter, Hyuuga? A girl manage to kick your sorry ass without even trying?" mocked Sasuke, smirk on his face.

Said girl was very oblivious to the comment and merely glanced at the glaring Hyuuga boy with a questioning glance. "Neji-nii-san? Why are you glaring at Sasuke-nii-sama like Riku-nii-sama does when Longhi-baka-kun mistakes him for a girl?"

Setsuna raised an eyebrow and gave a soft laugh. "Now, now, Sohlum-chan. Neji did not chase after Sasuke with a glaive, yelling death threats, so it is not that similar."

The cute girl nodded. "Now that I think about it, Neji-nii-san and Riku-nii-sama not only act the same but they look the same too."

Sakura, wanting to know about the girl more, smiled. "How do they look the same to you, Sohlum-chan?"

It was a tad obvious how much they were similar, the same hair length, only different colors, the same choice in clothing and the same ice cube personality. It was only the fact that they belonged to different clans and that Riku was older and taller that was the real difference other than their eye and hair colors. That and that Riku had a younger sister and an extremely overprotective personality that brought anybody's to shame.

"Well, both Neji-nii-san and Riku-nii-sama have eyes a shade of purple. And also that their eyes always seem slanted and angry most of the time and for some reason, mostly angry when they see anyone besides close friends talking to Tenten-chan or Manni-sama." The group sweatdropped at this comment. "Also because both Neji-nii-san and Riku-nii-sama don't talk much and for some reason, both of them always seem to be clutching a pole or table whenever I hug them. It's kinda funny seeing their hands turn an intresting white color." The group sweatdropped even more at the chibi cute girl's innocent looks of explaining. "And finally, it's also because Neji-nii-sama and Riku-nii-sama both have pretty, long hair!"

Everyone stopped their motions at that comment. Sasuke and Neji blinking in the middle of their glaring contest to stare at the girl. Sasuke's face wore an expression of approval at the comment while Neji's held a look of quiet torture and pain. Choji and Naruto stopped their loud slurps of ramen to stare from Neji to Sohlum, who's face held a look of complete innocence and cuteness. Naruto because laughing, eventually falling face first into his ramen bowl, occational bubbles of air leaking from the soup as the muffled sounds of laughter rang though the stand. Rock Lee had a wide smile spread on his face while Kiba spit out his mouth of ramen onto the floor, cracking up. Sakura, Ino, Tenten, Hinata and Setsuna gave Neji a pitying look and held their hands over their mouths to prevent from giving the Hyuuga any more embarressment. Shikamaru had a lazy smile on his face, giving a soft chuckle here and there. Shino was as emotionless as ever although he was throwing a laughing fit in his head.

Sasuke's smirk eventually drew Neji out of his trance and he swiftly formed a plan in his head. Smirking slightly, he looked at the innocent looking girl, who, at the moment, was fiddling with her bow. "Sohlum," he said quietly. The girl looked up and glanced at him. "You know what, I think Sasuke-nii-sama wants a hug too. Why don't you give him one?"

Sohlum's face immediatly brightened and charged after the Uchiha prodigy, who was unprepared for the sudden attack. Therefore, all the air he had in his lungs escaped him as the girl's suprisingly strong arms surrounded his waist and crushed him bones with unnessesary strength added to it. His eyes gave a twitch as he glared at the smirking Hyuuga, clutching onto the side of the table, it being the closest thing near him besides the overactive Tsubasain attached to his waist.

"And you were saying about how a girl kicked my sorry ass, Uchiha?" mocked Neji, crossing his arms and raising a thin eyebrow.

The glare set his way was beyond that of a normal death glare that would have sent a normal man screaming. But, Hyuuga Neji was left uneffected. Setsuna decieded to take pity on her poor boyfriend and laid a hand on Sohlum. "I understand that you might like hugging people, Sohlum-chan, but I think you're a bit overdoing it for today."

Sohlum looked at the 17 year old for a moment before nodding and letting go. "Hai, Setsuna-sama!"

Sasuke took in a large breathe of air and rubbed his waist with a slight grimace. Throwing his girlfriend a thankful look, his gaze rest of the chibi looking girl before him, looking at him as if expecting something. "Sohlum-san," he regarded her. He grimaced a bit more when Sohlum gave a pout and tears started filling her eyes. "Sohlum-chan."

At the correction, the chibi girl clapped her hands and jumped up and down with glee. "Hai, hai, Sasuke-nii-sama?"

"Why don't you sit down for now?" asked Sasuke, motioning to the vacant seat she previously occupied.

Following his instructions, the girl bounced into her seat and began fiddling with her bow. "Sohlum-chan? Do you want some ramen?" offered Hinata politely.

"No thank you, Hinata-nee-chan," Sohlum declined. At the new suffix term, Neji threw her a curious glance. "Hinata-nii-chan looks a lot like Neji-nii-san and you both have the same last name so I suppose your related, so I wanna call Hinata-nee-chan Hinata-nee-chan. And also because Hinata-nee-chan called me Sohlum-chan and usually the people that call me Sohlum-chan let me call them nee-chan or nee-san."

Hinata smiled in a mother-like way. "You can call me that, Sohlum-chan. I'd like to be your sister."

"You can be our little sister too!" screamed Sakura and Ino. Both looked at the little chibi, who smiled brightly and nodded.

"Hai, Sakura-nee-san, Ino-nee-san!" she chirped.

Both girls gave loud squeals before rushing up to the younger girl and hugging her. The chibi blush on Sohlum's face returned, matching the cute smile on her face that made Tenten and Hinata join in on the hug as well. Behind then, many of the guys sweatdropped at th amount of affection their teammates were showing for the new chibi girl. Setsuna gave a few laughs, watching the four girls, her younger relative and their hug festival. "Guys, do you know how old Sohlum is?"

Sohlum nodded, the smile still intact. "I'm 16 years old."

"16?!" shouted most of the shinobi. The others remaining who didn't scream, including Sasuke, Neji, Shino, Shikamaru, stared at the girl with wide eyes. This cute, chibi and adorable girl was all but a year younger than the Rookie Nine and two younger than Team Gai.

"Hai, I am 16 years old. My birthday was around two monthes ago," informed the chibi girl, smiling obliviously.

"B-But Sohlum-chan! You're so cute and kawaii!" said Ino, examining the girl with newfound eyes.

Sohlum nodded in understanding. "Usually people who first meet me mistake me for a chibi toy or younger than my age by maybe 5 years. Really, I don't mind. I like people hugging me and caring about me, it makes me feel special!"

At that comment, Ino, Sakura, Tenten and Hinata immediatly put on smiles and hugged the girl, who blinked innocently and smiled. Setsuna laughed at Sohlum's comment before smiling as well. "Sohlum-chan, you have a lot of people that mistake you for a chibi toy."

"That means that I get more people to hug me!" chirped Sohlum.

Shaking her head, Setsuna's eyes laid on the four girls bombarding her relative. "Guys, I think Sohlum needs air and I think the guys have a few questions for her," she explained, motioning toward Shikamaru, Sasuke, Neji, Choji, Lee, Kiba and Shino.

Tenten, Ino, Sakura and Hinata gave defeated sighs before hugging the girl one more time and returned to their seats. "Setsuna-sama said you had questions for me? What are they?" asked Sohlum, taking in a deep breath of lost air and letting it out.

Shikamaru nodded and motioned toward the weapon in her hand. "Why do you have that with you?"

"Oh, nii-san said before to keep it with me just in case an emergency shows up or someone picks on me."

"But where are your arrows," asked Naruto inbetween a slurp of ramen.

Sohlum shook her head. "I don't need arrows, I use chakra!" The questioning gazes signaled for her to continue. "I form arrows out of chakra and the chakra arrows are more fast and efficiant than normal arrows any day! It's just too bad I have horrible aim."

"But, Sohlum-chan, aren't you a ninja?" questioned Kiba curiously.

Sohlum nodded and placed her longbow on the table. Slowly, she took off her headband and held it in her hand for the group to see. "I am. I'm a Tsubasain ninja, just like Setsuna-sama," she said, pointing to Setsuna's headband. "It's just that I'm a horrible nin and I'm just lucky I even get to wear the headband." At the end of it, Sohlum's eyes filled with slight tears as she retied the headband and held onto the bow handle tightly. "I'm not good like Setsuna-sama or a good medic-nin like Eternity-chan or smart like Owen-nii-kun or quiet like Manni-sama and Riku-nii-sama. Longhi-baka-kun is faster than me and I couldn't hope to be as strong as Sin-Lin-sensei or Yuri-nee-sama. Leo-sama and Tauro-sama are better than me and nee-chan is much better, stronger and smarter than me. I'm a lost cause."

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER?!"

All ninja's eyes shot up from the long haired Tsubasain to the newest arrival. There, standing at the doorway was a rather angry looking girl that all immediatly regognized. Large, red-violet eyes were narrowed and glared at every single shinobi in the room, anger radiating from each of them. Half of her long, midnight blue hair glittering with black shine and streaked with faded red was tied into two buns on the top of her head, the other half falling down to her hips in a slight wave. Two locks fell to frame her face, the one on the left, straight, while the right one was wavy, A choaker was tied around the girl's neck, a cat bell dangling down from it. The girl wore a blood red halter top, a black and grey jacket covering it. A long, red-violet sash was tied around her waist, each end containing a tinkingling bell. Below it was a black-blue dress that covered her knees, a pair of black combat boots completing the outfit.

With a slight flash of red, a large axe appeared in her hands, protected by a pair of black, finger-less gloves. Several of the shinobi twitched at the appearance of the deadly looking weapon for the blade had a tint of red which many of them guessed was blood. To tell you the truth, even with the death glare, the girl didn't appear to be a threat in any means, however, the Tsubasian headband settled on the girl's forehead told everyone otherwise.

"Nee-chan!" shouted Sohlum, hurrying from her seat to the angry looking girl at the opening of the stand.

The cute girl's arms surrounded the deadly looking girl's neck. Sohlum smiled brightly and tightened her grip once she felt the older girl's hand on her back, patting her gently. The glaring girl raised an eyebrow at Neji and Sasuke, who stared at her with expressions of awe at how she could handle the chibi girl's powerful hug. "Sala-chan, what brings you here?" asked Setsuna, glancing at the axe-holding her with curious eyes.

Sala waved a hand, smiling slightly at her relative. "I'm fine, Setsuna-sama. I was helping Sohlum-chan look for her pet bug but we got separated. Now, we get back to our original topic," she said, her smile turning into a dark frown. Her aura darkened immediatly as she hugged Sohlum back, glaring at every Konoha shinobi in the stand. "What the hell did you do to her?"

The shinobi looked at the deadly looking girl with fright as she pointed it at their general direction. Sohlum looked up at Sala with wide eyes and shook her head. "Oh no, Sala-nee-chan. They didn't do anything to me. I was just thinking of something that made me sad, don't be angry, nee-chan!"

Sala looked at the chibi girl for a second, taking in the image of the girl with puffed out cheeks and innocent looking purple eyes. She blinked for a moment before smiling widely. The axe in her hand dissapeared with a flash of light as her gloved hands moved to pinch the younger girl's cheeks. "How could I be mad at my imouto-chan?" she said, smiling as the chibi girl perked up at the sudden attention.

"Sala, you have a little sister?" asked Ino curiously. "Kankuro never mentioned that to us."

Red-violet eyes rolled at the comment. "Puppet boy doesn't know the difference between ramen and a garden hose. Besides, Sohlum isn't my sister by blood, she's my chibi cute sister by bond."

Sohlum nodded excitedly. "Yeah! Sala-nee-chan is my big sister, the closest thing I have to one at least! I've known her all my life! She protects me a lot and whenever I'm around her for some reason, most boys sorta runs away from me for some reason."

The shinobi sent Sala a glance that clearly read 'What did you do to them?'. Sala blinked innocently and sheated her axe, looking as much an innocent school girl as she did when they had previously met in the Land of the Wings. Of course, Sala was the complete opposite of everything she looked, innocent and fragile. The Konoha group and Sand Sibs figured that out when they found Kankuro in a dead faint 20 feet away from where he previously stood 5 seconds ago. It turned out that after he had critisized Sala, calling her a 'fragile' looking girl that was obviously too weak to even hold an axe, much less use it, Kankuro was hurled straight through the air and onto the had floor, knocking him out. Her large, red-violet eyes looked at them with an innocent expression. "I don't know what you are talking about," she said airly.

Sala shifted her attention from the skeptical looking group to Sohlum, who let go and was fiddling with her bow again, playing with the string and outlining the carvings with her finger. Glancing at the purple bug on the girl's head, Sala rose an eyebrow. "Sohlum-chan, I see you found your bug."

Said chibi nodded. "Hai! Shino-san found her! Isn't that great?!"

The girl gave a defeated sigh and nodded at Sohlum's obvious happiness. "Sure it is. And did any of these people hurt you in any way, shape or form? Did anything happen that I should need to know?" She motioned toward the gathering of ninja, who looked from Sohlum, to Sala's axe to Sala and back.

Lucky for them, Sohlum shook her head. "No, they didn't, Sala-nii-san. But I have Sasuke-nii-sama and Neji-nii-san a hug! Neji-nii-san looks a lot like Riku-nii-sama, does he not?" Sala nodded, glancing at the two boys with a quick look of warning. "Both Neji-nii-san and Riku-nii-sama have long, pretty hair!"

At this, Sala gave Neji a slight smirk. "Yes, they both do, Sohlum-chan. Do you have anything else to say?"

Sohlum thought for a moment. "Well, Ino-nii-san, Sakura-nee-san, Hinata-nee-chan and Tenten-nee-chan gave me hugs! I like hugs!"

Sala smiled at her. "And people like giving you hugs as well, Sohlum-chan. Now, we have to go now." She raised an eyebrow at Sohlum's pout and returned it with a stern glance. "I know it isn't fun, Sohlum-chan, but Manni-sama said that we have some stuff to deal with. How about after it, we'll go play a game?"

"Actually, Sala-chan. We were having a sleepover remember?" informed Sakura.

"Oh yeah, where's it gonna be at?" asked Sala, curious.

"We don't know yet," admitted Kiba, scratching his head.

"How about our place?" suggested Setsuna. "It's big enough for all of us."

She stopped when Sala threw herself into a fake coughing fit. " cough It cough has cough to be cough to cough fit cough 12 crazy people cough cough cough"

Setsuna's cheeks reddened slightly as she threw Sala a slight glare. "Otou-san is out doing some stuff and we'll be alone to do anything me want. " Glancing around, she saw the looks of doubt on Naruto's, Choji's and Shikamaru's faces. Thinking for a moment, she flashed an evil smile in her mind. "And Naruto, we have a lot of ramen."

"I SAY GO!" shouted Naruto immediatly after the mention of ramen. The look of doubt dissappeared as quickly as food did with Choji.

'One down, two to go,' though Setsuna, cackling evilly in her head. On the outside, of course, she put on a smile that spoke of innocent happiness. Beside her, however, Sasuke regognized the smile and raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend's scheming.

"And we just stocked up on chips, Choji," said Setsuna, glancing at the Akimichi.

Slurping up his 25th bowl of ramen, the muscular boy thought for a moment. "Sure, why not," replied Choji, shrugging.

"And we also have an open courtyard to look at the sky, Shikamaru. And if you wanna take a nap, we have gigantic, fluffy pillows," baited the Tsubasa Clan heir.

The shadow-nin looked up from his nap and shugged. "Troublesome but okay."

"Who's invited?" asked Sala, wondering how many people she can prank scare in one night.

"Rookie Nine, Team Gai, Sand Sibs and you guys," listed Ino. "Anyone else?"

"No, don't think so," commented Sakura. She turned toward Sala. "Guess that's everyone. You two in?"

Sala nodded and smiled. "Of course, how could I pass up a chance to torture puppet boy?"

The group sweatdropped while Sohlum blinked at them, oblivious to what was going on. "I wanna come too!"

Setsuna smiled. "It wouldn't be a sleepover without Sohlum-chan," she said, ruffling Sohlum's hair slightly. She threw Sala a smirk. "Wonder who our little chibi's gonna whoop ass in this time."

Sala grinned in reply. "She's too good in that game! Even my Tsubasian standards."

"Yeah, well, we all have something we're good at. Let Sohlum-chan be good at that ," said Setsuna, folding her arms.

Sala pouted cutely and shook her head. "Whatever, we'll see you tonight. Ja, mina-san," she said, bowing politely.

"Ja ne, mina-san!" copied Sohlum, bowing as well. She waved with a innocent smile on her face as Sala dragged her out of the ramen bar, bow and all.

"Yosh, Setsuna-san," started Rock Lee, suddenly remembering something. Setsuna turned around and gave the spandex loving taijutsu user a questioning glance. "What was it that the lovely youth was saying before. I am afraid I could not understand."

The Tsubasain heir's black eyes, tinted with blue and silver, blinked. Slowly, they widened as she remember what Sohlum had said and winced slightly. "W-Well, uhhh," she stuttered, staring at every point of the room except for the occupents. She twirled a lock of black hair, streaked with black and blue, nervously and tried to find the right words to say. "It's kinda long and very, very detailed but to put it in more correct terms, uh, Shino-san."

The bug user stared at her. "Yes?"

"It seems you have a new fangirl."

* * *

**Author's Ending Notes**: Well, that's the first chapter to my new story. Review if you like and I'll see ya people again! Message me if you want the descriptions for my OC's instead of reading paragraphs and paragraphs of it. Ja people! 


	2. The Tsubasa Clan

Of Birds And Bugs

by Angels-Gift

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Summary: It seems that everyone in the Rookie Nine and Team Gai are paired off. With the exception of a certain Aburame Shino. Not that he minds of course. His teammates, on the other hand, are a different story. ShinoOC

Setsuna smiled brightly as she wandered down side hall of her new Konoha home. For some reason, being in it made her feel for at home than anything else in this new, slightly stange land. Most likely because it was similar to her home in the Land of the Wings. Large, spacious rooms, nice, comfortable furniture, paintings of various scenes in nature and most of all, her crazy, oddly attituded family made her feel a home. The large copies of the Tsubasian symbol placed in various places of the house was just an added bonus.

Black eyes, tinted with blue and silver, glanced at the hanging tapastry in one of the rooms. Stepping in, her eyes glazed over slightly at the farmilar sight. It was woven by many of her aunts and distant relatives as a gift to hang in her new complex to remind her of home. No rightful member of the Tsubasa Clan or anyone from the Land of the Wings could see the symbol and not remember it. It was the family symbol of Tsubasa Abaku, founding father of the Land of the Wings and considered the first leader of the Tsubasa Clan.

A pair of silver wings was the largest imprint in the handwoven centerpiece, the symbol of every Tsubasian (Native of the Land of the Wings), of every member of the Tsubasa Clan. Swirls of rich, bold colors were dyed around the edges, giving the image of a pair of angel's wings in a rainbow's light. Each color represented each of the unique qualities in our family. The fact that each color blended with its surrounding others represented the unity of their ancient home, the belief that each member supported another, that they all were connected through a bond.

In the space of the wings lay five large jewels, set in a large pentagon, each one as beautiful as the last. Like everything in the tapestry, it represented an important aspect in the Tsubasian home, and this aspect represented one that affect each Tsubasa Clan member the most, for it symbolized the five Houses of Tsubasa, or the five branches of her family.

Set at the top most point, symbolizing the First house, was a large, sparkling sapphire, glowing a faint soft blue in the few rays of light the room gave. A faint smile appeared on Setsuna's face as she traced the Tsubasian symbol carved into the stone. '_Notaru_' it was pronounced, meaning 'unity' in her language. That one word represented the reason why the First House existed, to bring unity to the other houses, to lead them to prosperity, guide them through life and bring them peace. But there was also a reason as to why blue was the color of the First House. It was because, like the serene, cool color of the sapphire, they were too to be calm and serene, to keep a cool head in both battle and life so they can guide others to follow.

Glancing down to second gem going clockwise, it could be easily catagorized as the brightest colored one of the five. Sharp and bright, the gold colored stone seemed like an essence of the sun itself in sunset's light, representing the Second House's sharp wit and the everlasting knowledge that was as bright as the sun's rays. To the members of the Second House, they chose gold because, to them, knowledge was the true 'gold' of the world, a gift from the high heavens and the most valuable thing in the world, much like gold is to thieves. Carved in the center of the gem is a symbol also. '_Coto_', meaning 'wisdom', something that the Second House both respected and gained from every experience of their lives.

Under it, shrouded in the shadow of a nearby vase, was a dark, elegant colored amyethst. Setsuna's smile morphed into a smirk as she recognized the symbol of the Third House, glimmering and glowing even in the darkness of the shadow, practically screaming 'Calm, Cool and Collcted'. It was at these times that she seriously wondered if Third House members were psychics to have placed their symbol in the exact area where a shadow would hit it. Like the gem set in the shadows, the members of the Third House seemed to thrive and live in all thoughout their lives, sparkling best in the depths of night. Elegant and dark, the Third House shouded themselves in darkness, speaking rarely and barely ever expressed what they were thinking. Purple was their house's color for it described the Third the best, the perfect balance of shadows and light and as elegant as a god. '_Miha_' was their symbol, 'patience', something they had vast amounts of, and to unbalance a Third House member's eternal cool was a task equivalent to throwing yourself in a dark abyss rumored to possess a demon from another world.

Next to the amyethst sparked a bold colored emerald, and in many respects, the near opposite of the gem next to it. Just like what the people they represented. Sparkling in the direct sunlight, it screamed 'Loud and Proud' with all of its heart. Setsuna gave a brief chuckle. Just like the Fourth House to pick a gem like it. Big (like their ego's), bright (like their imaginations), and green, their House's traditional color. Every time she saw green and a Fourth House member, she never questioned why. Not because they would give her a 5 hour long lecture about it (Which they would, by the way) but because it suited them the best. Nature was their mother, their home and their lives, and because green was Nature's color, they chose green as well, wearing it loudly and proudly. Her eyes wandered to the symbol carved in the center of the gem. '_Ime_', meaning 'honor' in traditional Tsubasian, the Fourth House's code and law in life. They put their honor in front of them and would do everything they could to protect it, even if it ment giving up their own lives (Something they were very stubborn about).

The final gem, nested between the First House's sapphire and the Fourth House's emerald, was by far the most terrible in beauty. Representing the Fifth House was a ruby. Blood red in color, it spoke volumes of a Fifth House member's life and ideals. Red, the color of war. The color of death. The color of blood. To a Fifth House member, war was their playtime, the battlefield their playground should they be angry. If they had a reason as to why they would kill, they would slaughter though forces larger than them (But don't get me wrong, they had morals to keep, killing tore their soul as much as a normal person, they just don't hesitate if they had a reason). To a Fifth House member, death was the next gate, the next adventure and what you did in this life represented what you did in the next. And to a Fifth House member, blood was the essence of life. I gave them warmth, power, their link to the world of living. '_Fima_' was their code, their symbol, meaning 'strength'. And Kami forbid any Fifth House member from every being angry, or else they'll show what kind of 'strength' they possess.

Every house of Tsubasa had their rules own rules and traditions but they put traditional Tsubasian ways first. However, there were things that came from their house that they had no control over, such as their appearence and attitudes. When the first five houses were established, the Tsubasa had placed several complex enchantments and jutsus over their family and the generations that would follow. It involved many things that affected your DNA. The jutsu made it so that if you were born in a certain house, such as the Third, your hair and you eyes would be born with purple in it. The same way went for the First House, you would be born with blue in your hair and eyes. Second House would have gold or sandy yellow, Fourth had green while Fifth House had red. However, every Tsubasa Clan member had blue in their eyes, a shade darker than the First House's own, to symbolize their membership in the Tsubasa Clan and their right to use the clan's own Kekkei Genkai and special jutsus. They also had black in their hair and eyes. This was just a common genetic trait, passed from Abaku himself.

Woven in the space of the pentagon, directly in the center in feather blue, was the traditional motto of the Tsubasa Clan. '_A family of birds, together as one_.' Supposedly, it represented the unity of the five houses and the bond that each Tsubasa Clan member had with each other. Each Tsubasian, from First to Fifth House, had been taught since toddlers that they were each a part of a large circle, that stretched from young to old, strong to weak, wise to dim. That motto was the exact truth in our family, though others may think it a metaphor.

You see, since the first creation of the Land of the Wings, the Tsubasa Clan was bound to the birds of the world by an ancient pact. When a Tsubsian is born, they are taken to an alter dedicated to the great birds that inhabit our lands (which was every type of bird you can imagine). Many complex prayers and rituals are chanted until a spirit of a bird arises. This spirit binds to the newborn's soul, becoming a part of the child until death. It is at that moment that the skin on our left arm, around 5 inches in length, a bit down from the shoulder, is marked. Not by any human, but a seal that the spirit of the bird places on itself to completely tie to its human.

When the child grows up, well, when the child is able to walk, talk and run, it takes on the ancient pact with full responsibility. The child is then trained to be a ninja, to protect the Land of the Wings and the creatures of the Forest of Chaos from any harm. That is our purpose in the pact, to protect in exchange for the power from the bird spirit. At a certain age, usually 10, the child is able to summon the few physical items the bird spirit is able to possess, meaning a weapon. It could be anything ranging from a book to a spear to a bow.

When the child able to summon his or her weapon, he or she is given more advanced training until they can tap into the true powers of their bird spirit. From then on, he or she trains on their own and develope his or her own jutsu based on their bird spirit. Every bird spirit is different, meaning that every ninja that is bound to the bird has different abilities. It ranges, much like the weapons, from blasting fire, to the ability to control shadows. It also depends on their house because each house has their own specialty like the Fourth House's natural ability to use chakra to boost their physical strength.

However, do not think that all we do is fight. Being a ninja is but one of the important aspects of our lives, including protecting the civilians of the Land of the Wings and the Forest of Chaos. While each Tsubasa Clan member was raised to fight, some of us don't. A select special few that are specifically chosen by the Clan Head, or by the leader of one of the houses, are trained to do other, very important tasks. Most involve the weapons, herbs and poisons used in battle and only certain are allowed to do it, mainly because of their natural abilities and trustworthiness.

An even more select few led a life similar to Setsuna's own. To lead. While the Tsubasa Clan had a Clan Head, Tsubasa Kuzusu, the possesser of the Phoenix, they also needed four additional heads to lead the other houses. This, like the right to lead the clan, was a birthright but natural abilities as a ninja and a leader matters also. The heirs to the five houses were raised together as children, to promote friendship and working together so that when they were adults, they would be able to lead together without much trouble.

Setsuna grinned, remembering them. It was not just five heirs either, it was seven. Seven heirs to the five seats. How? You need to dive into family history for that one. As first born child, Setsuna had the right to the title of Clan Head over Eternity, her 11 year old sister, who supported her, claiming, and I quote, "Good luck with the old dingbats!". She had said that with a smile as bright as the sun, speaking about the Tsubasian advisors, resuming her pratice in the medic arts, determained to be the best medic in all of history, and she was on her way. At the age of 8, she had first proven herself to have the same abilities as a medic four times her age, locking her place as the next Clan Head should something happen to Setsuna, much to the girl's displeasure. "If anything was going to happen to Setsuna-nii-sama, you all are going to find out what my katana feels when it's driven up your ass! You all got that?!" Needless to say, she was not that happy about the possiblity of being leader. "I don't wanna be cooped up in an office all my life with boring paperwork and have a grey hair at 20!" Both Kuzusu and Setsuna had a laugh at that comment.

Tsubasa Owen was the heir for the Second House. Naturally smart, with an IQ of 250, a brilliant tactics officer and a great person to be around overall, Owen was gifted far beyond the expectations of any Second House member. He was an only child and combined with the fact it would be his birthright and his abilities, if their was even a possiblility that he would not be chosen would have baffled anyone. There was one downside about Owen that drove every one of his cousins and Setsuna nuts. While he may have a brilliant mind, he was as dim as as a blasted lightbulb when it comes to love. He didn't even realize that a good majority of the girls in the Land of the Wings and Konoha was after him, merely blinked and said, "Are you sure you had enough sleep last night? What could possibly cause them to like me?" Cue sweatdrop. Owen was, well, Owen when it comes to these things. Every Second House member was like this when it was about feelings, they were as dim in the subject as they were smart. And it was an unspoken rule that they looked as good as they were smart. And Owen looked very good. Very, very good.

Tsubasa Riku and Tsubasa Manni were the heirs to the Third House. Brother and sister, Riku was older by one year, which made him technically the true heir of the Third House. However, both brother and sister were orphaned at seven and six, when their father had died in a battle. Their mother had passed when she gave birth to Manni. Riku was still too young to fully take on the responsibility of being House Head, so Manni had shared the responsiblility with him.

That was the point when their sibling relationship had changed. It was that point when they started trusting each other completely, opening up to only each other and never fighting even if their life depended on it. Effects of this was evident everywhere. You would usually never see one without the other. Their rooms were next to each other, connected by a door so one would visit another about papers. Each had grown their hair so long that it reached far past that of a normal person's, as like every Third House member, and tied it in the exact same way. Overprotectiveness over Manni soon became Riku's sole reason to live which rubbed off Manni, becoming equally as overprotective over Riku. Both wore the same colors, black and purple. Well, every Third House member did but they wore the exact same shades. And finally, the two had the same silent, calm, cold, colleceted personality. 'Hn' was their favorite word (If it is one) and their answer to everything.

The two heirs of the Fourth House were Tsubasa Longhi and Tsubasa Sin-Lin. Brother and sister also, Longhi was older, however, by a year and a half, to the annoyance to Sin-Lin. However, the reason why there were two heirs in the Fourth House was also because of a family problem, but of a different kind. You see, because Longhi was older, he technically is the true heir, similar to Riku. However, he does not want to be the heir, his _parents_ do. Because of her older brother's wishes, Sin-Lin is technically the house heir also. _But_ because their parents want _Longhi_ to be their heir and while _their_ heir wants _Sin-Lin_ to be heir, both were chosen and trained so. The duo fought like cats and dogs, the exact opposite of Manni and Riku, but they had their moments and usually, it ended in utter chaos, to the two's complete amusement.

The seventh and last heir was Tsubasa Yuri, the single most dangerous and tempermental girl in the world, even my Fifth House standards. Truthfully, she was the last choice the Fifth House wanted to make, but she did have the qualities of an excellent ninja, a good leader and by birthright. Well, the last one was a bit loose. Really, it was Tsubasa Leo's birthright, and if not, Tsubasa Tauro's. Because their parents had died 11 years ago, the twins had decided among themselves that they were not suited for the job when Yuri reached 14 and decided it was up to her to do it. They instead took it upon themselves to goof off, much to Yuri annoyance. But they had all known that Yuri being the House Head improved her relationship with the clan. She being bonded to the spirit of the vulture, the most hated bird of the family, caused her to be secluded all her life, from everyone. Her experiences with the people of Konoha opened her and accepting her position as heir only made it better. Gaara was just a very big bonus in her attitude.

The Clan Heir took one last look at the tapestry before heading out of the room, a smile spread on her face. Her eyes flickered over to the sky as she took in a breath of fresh air. Almost time. She blinked and began walking down the hall once more, head full of thoughts. All the preparations for the sleepover was prepared. They had even got her father's permission to use the DDR and karaoke machines so they wouldn't get bored. If the Konoha and Sand nin had any idea what the Tsubasa's had in store for them, they would most definetly run for the hills. Mentally chuckling at the idea, Setsuna rounded a corner and stopped in her tracks, sweatdropping.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked, doing her best not to break down laughing.

Owen, leaned against a wall with a look of patient suffering, turned his attention from the scene to Setsuna, a smile speading on his face. "Setsuna," he greeted with a nod, his sandy gold hair, streaked with black and pure gold, flew at the sudden movement. He rearranged his rimless glasses that hid his gold colored eyes, tinted with blue and black. "You don't want to know."

A girl walked into the hall with a look of boredom on her face as she surveyed the scene playing out before her. "They're still at it?" she questioned wryly, raising an eyebrow. Owen nodded and the girl scoffed, shaking her head. Her mane of black hair, streaked crimson flew about. Darting her blood red eyes, tinted blue and black, toward the center of the hall, she rolled them and folded her arms. "Must they do this?"

"That is the mystery of life, Yuri," answered Manni, walking over to the group with a smirk. Her long black hair, streaked purple, was pulled in a low ponytail that brushed against her legs like a cat's tail. Light purple eyes, tinted with black, blue and silver, glanced at Setsuna. "Setsuna," she said, nodding, replacing her smirk with an emotionless look for a few seconds. But it appeared again as she heard her brother's next words.

"No, the mystery of life, Manni-chan, is how Longhi got so empty headed," corrected Riku. In the first meeting with the Konoha and Sand nin, they had questioned if he had any relation to Neji, much to the annoyance of the two. But they did look alike. It was almost like long lost twins with one year age difference. There were minor differences though, besides height, age and family. While Neji had brown hair, Riku had black, streaked with purple. His eyes, in contrast to Manni's light purple ones, were a dark violet, tinted with blue and black. "Which is what I still wonder today."

"Now, now, Riku-kun. Let's not question what we should not know," said Setsuna. She glanced over the taller man's shoulder and sweatdropped harder. "You think they'll stop soon?"

Owen sighed and rubbed his temples, a frustrated look on his face. "Somehow," he started, to be stopped by a loud scream. He growled softly, reframing from saying anything until the scream stopped. "I highly doubt that."

It was at this point that Yuri finally snapped. "You freakin' idiots have been at it since morning! And to top it off, there are going to be guests coming over in a matter of minutes! All of your constant yelling and annoying bickering is getting on my last nerve!" The infuriated vulture spirit holder unconsiously began to summon masses of sand around her, and, combined with her deadly aura, gave her the appearence of the devil. "You two either shut the fuck up or you two will find out what it feels like to have 5 tons of san buried over you!"

Owen and Setsuna sweatdropped in the backround while Manni and Riku crossed their arms and surveyed the scene with amused smirks on their faces. The two in the vision of Yuri's fury, were currently staring at her, wide-eyed, clutching each other for dear life. The two turned looked at the other and exchanged shaky nodds. "H-Hai, Yuri-chan," the two said at the same time.

The Fifth House member's glare lessened a bit as she waved her hand, the masses of sand disappearing from sight. She crossed her arms and looked the other direction, glare still in tact. Setsuna sighed and shook her head. "Yuri, why don't you cool down for a moment?" she suggested. Said girl turned to her cousin and nodded, walking down the hall, past the cowering duo with a chilling air around her. Setsuna watched as Yuri departed and turned to the relieved looking siblings on the floor. "Longhi, Sin-Lin, what happened?"

The girl shot up and glared at her brother on the floor. Emerald eyes, tinted with chestnut, blue, silver and black, spoke volumes of how much rage she was feeling. Running a hand through her shoulder length chestnut colored hair, streaked green, black and silver, she let out a soft growl of frustration. "That idiot," she started, pointing to her brother. "That weirdo, stupid idiot I call my brother. " She stopped, trying to compose herself. "I walk down the hall and I find this idiot prancing around wearing facial cream."

Setsuna surpressed the laugh she really wanted to get out. "I see," she managed. Slowly, she turned to the older Fourth House member and bit her lip to stop the grin on her face. "And Longhi, why are you wearing facial cream?"

Longhi scoffed and picked himself up from the ground, brushing the dirt off his clothes. "I did it because I want to look beautiful," he answered dramatically, posing at the end of it. Sin-Lin glared at him while Owen and Setsuna leaned against each other, trying to surpress their growing laughter. Riku and Manni rolled their eyes at his statement.

"Long-baka, you will never be beautiful," stated Riku, shaking his head.

"Now keep the little dignity you have and wipe that disgusting stuff off your face," advised Manni, glancing at the goop with distaste.

Longhi shook his head. "But I still have 5 more minutes!" he whined childlike. Really, he shouldn't do that. He looked more than grown up. In contrast to his sister, Longhi had silver hair with black and green natural highlights. His eyes were emerald as well, tinted with black, blue and chestnut, sharing the same mischiviousness as Sin-Lin's own. If he didn't have on the face good, he would have looked moderately handsome. That is, if he wasn't pouting at the time.

Sin-Lin threw her hands in the hair and chucked the cloth in her hand at Longhi's face. "Take good advise when you need it. You look like a dork! And that facial cream is ment for chicks!" She marched down the hall after Yuri, mumbling all the way about stupid brothers.

Setsuna looked at the clock placed in a nearby room. "15 more minutes, people."

Tenten jumped down from the tree she previously occupied, stretching a bit as she straightened herself up from the ground. Surveying the area, she smiled slightly at the beautiful front garden of the Tsubasa complex. Figured that Kuzusu would spend any amount of money he had on his family to make them feel more at home in their strange surroundings. She picked one of the many flowers planted in the lush lands, feeling the soft petals as she the tips of her fingers over them.

She looked up, grinning as she noted Kiba playing fetch with Akamaru using a broken limb of a nearby tree. Kiba had thrown the stick a bit too far and it landed before the back of Naruto. Akamaru, not really noticing the blond, charged after it and didn't have enough time to stop before he crashed headfirst into Naruto's hide. The hyperactive, currently screaming, blond landed several feet away from were he stood before, spitting clumps of grass, dirt and flowers from his mouth.

This prompted a laugh from nearly everyone in the large group and a good natured smirk from Sasuke and Neji. Shino sweatdropped slightly, shaking his head as hje witnessed Kiba laughing a bit too hard and began choking on the air he was breathing in. 'Idiot,' he thought.

The Inuzuka barely had time to gather himself up before a very angry Naruto chased after him and Akamaru, teeth bared and lined with caked dirt, occationally shouting out in frustration. Tenten, as well as Sakura, Ino and Hinata, shook their head at the blond's immaturity while the others watched the show with varying levels of intrest.

Konoha's Weapons Mistress, however, took this moment to count everyone gathered in the bird clan's lawn, mentally ticking off their names in the list in her mind. '_Let's see here. Naruto's here for sure, Sakura, Sasuke. Check. Ino, Choji and Shikamaru, check. Hinata, Kiba for sure and. . . where's Shino?_' She glanced around in confusion before finding the bug user in the shade of a large oak, completely blending in the shadows. Tenten sweatdropped absently. '_Right, Shino's here. Check. I'm here, Neji. . .Neji?_'

Her brows furrowed for a moment, glancing up at the tree the prodigy occupied previously before finding him trying to avoid his former teammate's 'proclaimations of youth'. Sighing mournfully, she shook her head, sweatdropping. '_Some things will never change_.'

Turning away from the sight of the Hyuuga prodigy trying his best composing himself from landing a blow on his bushy browed taijusu master, Tenten looked around, eyes flickering to the front gate. '_Where are the Sand Siblings?_'

No sooner had the thought crossed her minds did a farmiliar swirl of sand flicker in her sight and three figures appeared before the front gate. The first and only female of the group looked around and waved as a sign of greeting as they approched the group. "Ohayo, mina," the four-ponytailed blond said, smiling as she adjusted the large fan on her back.

The second figure, garbed in a black, slightly baggy, suit and a cat hat, faced marked with face paint, gave a slight wave. "Ohayo," he greeted as well. He shifted slightly, balancing the weight of the three large scrolls strapped to his back.

The third figure nodded, teal eyes scanning the area around him before returning to the group before him. The sand that previously introduced the trio flew into the gourd strapped to the Kazekage's back without a motion.

Sakura and Ino, looking up from their examination of the flowers growing in the area, smiled and waved in return. Hinata waved slightly, still unable to get over her shyness. Tenten grinned, waving as a reply. Sasuke, Neji and Shino, the three not very used to exchaging more than one word or so, agknowledged the three with brief nods or a spare glance. Shikamaru cracked an eye open from his nap in the base of a large tree and waved lazily, mumbling something along the lines of 'troublesome' as Rock Lee shouted out his hello with unneeded entusiasm. Choji looked up from his bag of chips and nodded, mumbling a greeting in reply. Naruto and Kiba stopped their game of cat and mouse and rushed over to the three Sand Sibs, waving wildly.

"Oi! Temari, Kankuro, Gaara!" shouted Naruto, grinning as they got closer.

"You guys finally showed up?" mocked Kiba in a friendly manner.

Kankuro scratched his head, laughing shakily. "Yeah. Gaara had Kazekage business so we had to get that finished first," he explained, motioning to the red-head.

Temari let out a low whistle as she examined the Tsubasa complex. "These people are really rich," she commented. She squinted, trying to see the smaller details of the house. "It's as big as the Hyuuga complex!"

"Not really. The Hyuuga complex is much bigger!" corrected a vaguely farmiliar voice from behind. The group turned their attention toward the direction of the voice to meet the smiling face of a cute looking Tsubasa. "Ohayo, mina-san!"

"Sohlum-chan!" chorused the females of the Naruto group, rushing up to the girl, while Temari and the boys stood in the backround with mixed reactions of sweatdrops and confusion. Rock Lee, however, grinned and gave the girl a 'nice guy' pose, complete with shining teeth.

"What are you doing in the front lawn?" asked the Third House member curiously as she managed to rip herself from the slaughter of hugs. She blinked, trying to get rid of the aftereffects of the shining teeth she faced.

"Waiting for for those three," answered Kiba, pointing to the Sand Siblings with a spare hand, the other petting a snoozing Akamaru on the back.

Naruto noticed the vaguely confused look on the girl's face before explaining. "The girl with the freaky fan is Temari. The one with the makeup on is Kankuro and Gaara's the one that looks like he hasn't slept since the day he was born."

The three in attention threw Naruto varying cross looks at how they were introduced before returning their attention to Sohlum, who smiled and bowed politely. "Ohayo, Temari-san, Kankruo-san, Gaara-sama. I'm Tsubasa Sohlum." She edged closer to the three and examined them close up. "Leo-kun and Tauro-kun have mentioned you before, Temari-san."

The fan-user seemed a bit flushed at those words. "They have?"

Sohlum nodded in response. "Hai. It is difficult to ignore when they spend most of their time yelling about you around the house at 2 in the morning." She stopped, seeming to think about something, failing to notice Temari glaring in the dirt, muttering something about attacking the twins and boiling them in a cauldron of oil. Her spectators sweatdropped at the action. "That is, until Yuri-sama throws them across the house and threatens them. She uses many, many words I don't understand. When I asked Setsuna-sama about them, she told me to never repeat them in my life ever again."

Most of them sweatdropped harder while Naruto and Kiba suggested telling her the real meaning of the words. Sakura smacked Naruto to the ground for the suggestion while Kiba chose to kick Kiba into a nearby tree for his stupidity. "She's innocent, Naruto. We plan to keep her that way," hissed Sakura before throttling the blond without remorse.

Turning to Kankuro, she smiled brightly. "Sala-nii-chan told me a lot about you, Kankuro-san!" she chirped.

The puppeteer grinned in return. "Really? What'd she say?" he asked, curious what the oddly tempered Fifth House member said.

"That you were a creepy, sissy puppet boy," answered Sohlum, smile intact without a clue as to why Kankuro appeared seconds later in the shadow of a tree, sulking, drawing circles in the dirt with a stick. Neji and Sasuke smirked at the girl's answer while the others sweatdropped at the puppeteer's actions.

"My youthful friend! Let us not waste your youth drawing circles in the dirt! Even if Sala-chan thinks you are a creepy, sissy puppet boy, you will still have your springtime of youth!" exclaimed the spandex wearing fashion slaughterer. This didn't seem to help Kankuro as a small storm cloud somehow formed over Kankuro's head and was now rumbling a bit, charged with Kankuro's depression as it rained. This caused the group to sweatdrop harder, Sohlum blinking, blissfully unaware.

Temari sighed and smacked her brother in the back of his head. "Get up and stop sulking. You know Sala-chan always says things like that," she said crossly.

Kankuro looked up, crying anime style waterfalls. "But never like that," replied the middle child, rubbing the back of his head.

"Stupid male pride," muttered Tenten while Sakura, Ino and Hinata nodded in response.

"What's male pride?" asked Sohlum curiously.

Temari raised an eyebrow. "Male pride is a man's large ego," she answered. Sohlum stared at her blankly.

"It's the thing that causes a man to be very upset when a woman kicks their butt in anything," clarified Tenten, looking pointly at Neji with a look that said 'I-Still-Remember-That-Fight' while Neji turned away stubbornly. Rock Lee, being himself, started shouting out, "Oh, Tenten means the time that you, my eternal rival, slipped in a puddle of mud and-" He didn't get to continue as the tree limb he was standing on 'mysteriously' broke and he fell to the ground in a heap.

"It's also the thing that makes a man not tell anyone else that they need help, no matter how much they need it," explained Sakura, smiling as she remembered the times she had to heal Owen because of the result of a faile experiment, no matter how much Owen detested having to rely of Sakura for help.

"A man's pride is the thing that makes them not tell their feelings because they think that's it's a major blow in their ego," continued Ino, glaring at Shikamaru, who sighed and muttered 'Troublesome'. He knew what she was thinking of, his once explaination that talking to her about 'feelings' was 'troublesome' and 'the guys' with laugh at him for even doing it.

"And it's the thing that causes most men to rush into a fight without thinking about the consiquences," ended Hinata while Naruto scratched his head nervously in the backround. The guys, who were paying attention to the explaination with varying looks, glanced at the blond as if saying 'That-Applies-To-You-And-Only-You'. Naruto glared at them in return.

"What's so bad about admitting that you need help, or something is troubling you? And what is so bad about saying that a female beat you in something?" questioned Sohlum.

Tenten shook her head. "Sohlum-chan," she said in a way that screamed 'Teacher-and-pupil'. "The male mind is very simple and dim. Their egos run their whole life. If they ever admit any of those things, than their ego will be hurt and they will have nothing else to rely on." Several of the guys glared at her after the explaination of their inner workings.

"Are you saying guys are stupid?" demanded Naruto.

Ino eyed him for a moment. "In your case, Naruto, yes."

Before Naruto could reply, Sohlum snapped her fingers and let out a scream of cheers. The older nin looked at her, but her gaze rested on Gaara and Gaara alone. "Now I remember you! Yuri-sama mentioned you before!"

Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow but said nothing. A windmill of thoughts were working in his mind, first most being the fact that Yuri had even mentioned him to anyone. The badly tempered Tsubasa but intrigued and amazed him in many ways, one of them being the fact that she led a life similar to his own. Scorned from her people, a person coming out, willing to be her friend and ending up helping the very people who hated them and with people who supported them to the end. Second, because their personalities were so alike in many ways, with the exception of the fact that Yuri's temper was beyond those of a demon.

"She did?" questioned Hinata, interested. The others appeared interested as well.

"Not like her to show off about her boyfriend," remarked Kankuro, grinning as he got up and brushed dirt of his clothes. He froze when Gaara turned toward him and glared.

"Yuri-sama only said that Gaara-sama was the Kazekage and that he was a very good shinobi," clarified Sohlum, smiling.

"That's it?" asked Neji, those being the first words he spoke.

"Nothing else?" questioned Sasuke. Really, the question they really wanted to say was, 'No blackmail?' but were too stoic to do so. Both had reputations to keep up and both were reminded that Gaara had the power to control sand and would hold no remose should he 'accidentally' bury the two prodigies in it.

Sohlum shook her head. "No. Sin-Lin-sensei once tried asking her if there was anything more personal between Yuri-sama and Gaara-sama."

"And what happened," asked Choji curiously between bits of food.

"She said that she would not mind repainting her room using Sin-Lin-sensei's blood," answered the innocent looking girl, fiddling with the large sleeves of her dress.

Kankuro, amoung one of the many, shivered at her words. "Could've chose a girl that doesn't have a temper the size of the Land of the Wind."

"Says the one that goes out with a girl that wields an axe," answered Gaara cooly.

"So you admit Yuri's your girlfriend," accused Naruto, pointing a finger at Gaara with the 'I-Got-You' look on his face.

"Ah! So, my youthful friend, you have finally found a lady!" exclaimed Rock Lee, flashing his teeth at him. "THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH PREVAILS ONCE MORE!"

The Kazekage looked at Naruto and Lee for a moment, hiding his flustered self well. "I didn't say that she was my girlfriend, I only replied, saying that Kankuro should not be one to say things like that when he has a homicidal axe slinger after his ass."

"Sala's not homicidal," said Temari, defending her friend.

"But you do admit that she wields an axe," answered Gaara.

"Among other things," they heard Kankuro mutter as he rubbed his behind for unknown reasons, flinching as he recalled certain memories he would rather never happen again. After a particular flinch, they heard him mutter, "Boomerange so big. . .and so hard."

"Wow," said Sakura suddenly, an expression of awe on her face. "Gaara, you just said 56 words!"

The red-head's previously raised eyebrow rose a bit higher. "You counted?" he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Sakura shrugged. "A bit of a suprise considering you almost never talk."

"But neither do they," said Temari, motioning to Sasuke, Neji and Shino.

"Sasuke and Neji were born with sticks up their asses," answered Naruto absently, causing the most of the gathered to laugh while the two prodigies in turn glared at Naruto, who grinned and waved his hand.

"And Shino's just an ass," said Kiba, grinning. He was very aware of the fact that the Aburame was glaring at him from behind his glasses, although he made no point in running away from him, just yet.

Hinata patted the bug user on the back and smiled. "We're here to have fun," she reminded him. Shino nodded while the others were reminded why they were here in the first place.

"Right. All of us are here and now, all we have to do is go to the party. Lead the way, Sohlum?" asked Temari, looking at the complex with uneasy eyes.

"None of us have been in it before and we have no clue which room it's in," explained Ino.

"I'd be happy to," replied Sohlum. She motioned for them to follow her down the dirt path to the house. Neji and Sasuke jumped off their respective tree branches and followed them. Shikamaru muttered 'troublesome' before being forceably dragged by Ino down the road. "I would advise walking around with a guide until you know generally where to go. It is very confusing around here."

Reaching the front porch, Sohlum unlocked the door and stepped inside. She left the door open for the others to file in, flipping the switch on a nearby wall to light the room up. It was a rather normal room compared to the one they lived in in the Land of the Wings. The walls were painted a nice beige, matching the hard planks of polished wood that made the floor. A rack was placed near the door and currently filled with the shoes of the newly entered nin. A small closet was placed next to the rack, sliding open to reveal hangers for coats. Silently, they followed their guide through an open door and down a hall.

The shinobi looked around curiously as Sohlum began leading them down the complex structure of the Tsubasian House. Similar to the entrance room, beige walls made up most of the house, it seemed, while the floors were made of hard planks of polished wood. Lamps made of glass lined the walls in even intervals, glowing brightly compared to the dimming dusk outside. Several tables made of a forgein type of wood were occationally placed below below a few lamps, each with an expensive looking vase placed on it. A number of paintings were placed along the walls that showed various scenes of nature in times of the year. Each painting, though, contained at least one bird in it, either flying, resting in the shade of a tree or swimming freely in the painted waters.

"Wow. This looks a lot like your place in the Land of the Wings!" exclaimed Naruto.

Sohlum nodded happily. "Yes. Tsunade-sama and Kuzusu-sama agreed that it would be best if our home was similar to that of our home in the Land of the Wings so we wouldn't be too homesick."

"Is Kuzusu-san around?" asked Shikamaru, slouching as he walked, looking around boredly.

"No, Kuzusu-sama has to maintain peace back at home," answered Sohlum turning a corner to meet with another hall.

"So it's just you guys?" asked Ino, excited.

Sohlum nodded. "Yes. Setsuna-sama, Owen-nii-kun, Riku-nii-sama, Manni-sama, Longhi-baka-kun, Sin-Lin-sensei, Yuri-sama, Sala-nii-chan and I live here together. Leo-kun and Tauro-kun recently went back to the Land of the Wings for a few weeks."

"It's really just you guys?" asked Kiba, grinning at the amount of chaos he could cause without parents. "No guardians? Parents? Supervisors? Anything?"

The girl shook her head. "No, just us."

"Hn. It seems strange that they would leave their own alone in a forgein land without protection though," pointed out Neji.

"And all of you are important people to your clan, are you not?" asked Shino.

Sohlum nodded, smiling. "So true. But all nine of us passed the test of adulthood and proven to Kuzusu-sama that we are adults long ago. Because of that, we are allowed to go to places alone. And the reason why all the heirs are here are because we wish to experience Konoha together, not through accounts of another, and to show trust in Tsunade-sama. And I am very sure that all of us can defend ourselves, do I need to explain the abilities they possess?"

Several of them winced as they recalled how the Tsubasian nin had slaughtered many of the Sound nin without so much as an ounce of mercy. Naruto and Kiba visibly shuddered. "I never knew exactly how dangerous shadows were until I met Riku and Manni," confessed Naruto, wincing at the memory of the two using the shadows to strangle all charkra out of their opponents. Their pale, dead bodies were not an easy thing to forget.

"And I never knew that Sin-Lin can puch someone that hard," said Kiba, knees shaking at the memory of the Fourth House nin sending an enemy soaring through the sky. He landed eventually, the crater's still being filled.

"Exactly. We can take care of ourselves. Kuzusu-sama trusts us that much," explained Sohlum. She stopped talking for a second, seeming to recall something. "That is, after Setsuna signed the contract."

That picked up the intrest of a few. "What contract?" asked Sasuke, interested at the happenings of his girlfriend.

Sohlum blinked. "The contract? Setsuna-sama did no tell you?"

"Don't think so," answered Sakura, thinking.

"Well, Kuzusu-sama made a deal with us. We are allowed to live on our own, but in return, we are not allowed to destroy and/or cause any sort of chaos in any part of Konoha. Sin-Lin-sensei and Longhi-baka-kun were very upset about that contract for some reason. Especially when the contract deamed Owen in control should anything happen, simply because he is eldest and wisest when it comes to many situations."

They nodded in understanding. Unlike Sohlum, they all had a very clear idea as to why Longhi and Sin-Lin were upset about Owen being in charge. He was very responsible when it came to power, where as Longhi and Sin-Lin would abuse it and throw a wild party 24 hours of every day. Kiba and Naruto had to grin at the idea of Longhi being in charge though. "It would be _so_ awesome if Longhi was in control though," commented Kiba, a very wide grin spread on his face.

"Oh yeah," agreed Naruto, imagining the chaos with an insane smile.

The others watched the interaction with mixed nervous smiles and displeasure. Sasuke shook his head. "Dobe," he said, glaring at the blond.

"What'd you say, teme?" demanded Naruto, turning around and glaring at the Uchiha.

Sasuke smirked. "I called you a dobe, idiot."

"Bastard!"

"Dead last."

"Hey! I made Jounin faster than you did!" claimed Naruto, a victorious smirk on his face,

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "But I made ANBU before you."

"By what? Half a second?! They only called your name first!" retorted Naruto, glaring at Sasuke. The Uchiha returned it with his standard 'Uchiha-Owns-You' death glare. Sparks were erupting as the two clenched their fists, neither side giving up.

"We missing something here?" questioned a loud voice a few feet away from the bickering pair. The group turned to meet the face of Tsubasa Sin-Lin, walking down one of the halls that connected to the one they were currently in. She uncrossed her folded arms and gave a slight wave. "Yo."

"Hey Sin-Lin!" shouted Naruto and Kiba, waving wildly as she approched them. The rest stuck to more normal greetings, with the exception of Lee.

"Sin-Lin, my youthful flower! Have you finally accepted your SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH?!" shouted Rock Lee.

A line of red appeared on Sin-Lin face as she turned away, staring at the wall. "Huh?" asked Kiba intelligently.

"Nothing," replied Sin-Lin quickly. Composing herself, she turned toward them again and smiled. "All here?"

"Yeah, everyone," replied Ino, returning the smile.

"Awesome, but where are you going?" asked Sin-Lin as they began walking down the hall. Sohlum stood next to the Fourth House member, shooting them a questioning look.

"Isn't it down there?" asked Sakura, pointing to the door down the hall.

Sohlum put a sleeve over her mouth as she smiled, laughing silently. Sin-Lin grinned and laughed. "No," they replied together.

"That's the bathroom," informed Sohlum.

"The room you're looking for, or at least I hope you are, is right here," said the female dog owner, pointing to the door right behind her,

The Naruto group blinked. "How did we miss that?" questioned Choji. Sin-Lin shrugged and slid open the door.

They filed in and looked around. The room was big and like the hallways, the room was beige, the floors made of hard planks but most of it was covered with numerous rugs. A fireplace was built on the far right side of the room, pictures and random figurines were placed on it. Above the fireplace was a framed Tsubasian symbol. Sofas, chairs and couches as well as tables were placed tastefully around the room. Currently, a small number of them were being occupied by the Tsubasa's, who were all focused on Setsuna, standing before them singing into a mic connected to two speakers.

Cause everytime we touch, I get this feeling.

And everytime we kiss I swear I could fly.

Can't you feel my heart beat fast, I want this to last.

Need you by my side.

Taking a deep breath, she grinned and bowed. Owen, Riku, Manni, Longhi, Yuri and Sala applauded lightly as she settled down into a large sofa. "Nice job, Setsuna," commented Sohlum politely as the Naruto group came in.

The Tsubasa's looked up and greeted them. Well, most of them did, Manni, Riku and Yuri looked at them and nodded without saying a word. Longhi, on the other hand, grinned and waved. "Ohayo, people. Come on, sit down!"

Following the Fourth House nin's instructions, they sat down into various chairs, looking around once in a while. Their gazes eventually fell on the bottle placed in the center of the room. Next to it, a few feet away, was a large, black top hat stuffed with scraps of paper. "What is that?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Mimata Hodo," answered Owen, fixing his glasses. "That is translated to 'Random Karaoke'."

"Random Karaoke?" asked Neji, raising an eyebrow.

"It's our version of karaoke," answered the Neji counterpart, looking at his somewhat twin. "It's stupid, really."

"No it's not! Don't listen to the jackass, it's a fun game," shouted Longhi, glaring at Riku, which he returned.

"How do you play?" asked Kankuro.

Sala smirked, rising Kankuro's hackles immediatly. "Glad you asked, puppet boy. Simple really. First, we have a bottle," she motioned toward the empty glass bottle on the floor, "a person spins it and whoever it lands on has three choices of singing."

"The first choice," continued Manni, "is the person who spun the bottle has to tell the other a vague order to chose your song."

"That means," started Setsuna, understanding the looks of confusion on the group's faces, "that the person who spun the bottle has to give a general order, like 'Pick a song that expresses your mood'. Since there are a lot of songs and each has a lot of moods, it's vague. The person who has to sing picks a song that follows the order and sings it."

"The second choice is a bittersweet choice," stated Yuri. "The person that has to sing gets to pick a song they want to sing, but the person who spun the bottle gets to dare that person after the song is over."

"I like that choice!" exclaimed Naruto, grinning at the possibilities of embarrassing Sasuke.

"And the third?" asked Shikamaru, bored.

"The third choice is completely random," answered Longhi, grinning. "You pick the song or order out of a hat." He motioned toward the top hat next to the bottle.

"Any rules?" asked Temari, suspicious. She had right to be. Tsubasian traditions and games were different from those of the people in Konoha. A very embarassing situation involving Leo and Tauro made her very aware of that fact.

"Dares can't be too extreme or illegal," said Manni immediatly, looking pointly at Longhi, Sin-Lin, Kiba and Naruto.

"And in event that you spin the bottle and it lands on yourself, you have to pick out of the hat," explaned Setsuna. She motioned toward the hat and showed them a piece of paper in her hand. "I spun on myself and I had to sing 'Everytime We Touch'."

"Everyone get it?" asked Sin-Lin, looking around for any confused faces. They shook her heads.

"I'm not singing," said Shino suddenly.

"Neither am I," agreed Neji.

"I don't sing," said Sasuke.

"I am not singing," Gaara said in his usual monotone voice.

"Too bad, you're singing," said Owen, Manni, Riku and Yuri in a chours. Each of them held a look on their face that clearly said 'If-I-Have-To-Do-This-You-Do-Too'.

"Don't worry anyways," said Sala, absently waving her hand to get their attention. "It's a small change you have to sing anyway. How many of us are there anyway? 24? 1 to 24 chance you sing. Not so bad. I haven't sung all night."

"We've only been playing for half an hour," informed Yuri, looking at the clock on the wall.

"Put it this way," said Sin-Lin, crossing her arms as she looked at the four boys against the idea, "Do it or we tie you to chairs and make you wear make-up."

"Don't think we can't," said Setsuna, grinning insanely. "Sohlum's bow strings are very strong and durable. And Yuri can match your sand for her sand, Gaara. Don't think she can't."

"You have a choice," cut in Manni, glaring at the four of them, "Karaoke from Hell or make up. Your third choice is me strangling every ounce of chakra out of you all." She raised her hand and the shadow of her arm, combined with her chakra, wrapped around her hand, glowing a dark purple-black. "And don't think I can't."

The four in question looked at each other and back at the group. "Fine," Neji, Sasuke and Shino said, irritated.

Gaara, however, shook his head. "Still not doing it."

Yuri rolled her eyes and got up. Sand swirled around her hand as it formed into her whip, which she snapped at the ground before the Kazekage. Yuri leaned in and whispered something into his ear, wrapping the whip around his neck. Gaara blinked for a moment as Yuri pulled back, whip still around his neck. "I'll do it," he said, a forced look on his face.

Sin-Lin grinned as Manni's shadow returned to it's original form. The whip in Yuri's hand disappeared as she returned to her seat, an emotionless mask placed over her face. "Setsuna, your turn to spin!"

The girl nodded and walked up to the bottle, spinning it and returning to her original seat. The bottle stopped after a few seconds, landing on a scowling, dark haired Uchiha. Setsuna smiled sweetly and turned to him. "You turn, Sasuke-chan," she purred, grinning evily as the boy cringed.


	3. Profiles

Of Birds And Bugs

by Angels-Gift

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Summary: It seems that everyone in the Rookie Nine and Team Gai are paired off. With the exception of a certain Aburame Shino. Not that he minds of course. His teammates, on the other hand, are a different story. ShinoOC

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**Someone messaged me, saying that they wanted to know more about the Tsubasa Clan. **

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**:PROFILE:**

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**Tsubasa Setsuna**

Age: 17

Hair: Black with blue and silver streaks; Long, runs to her mid-back, kept down

Eyes: Black tinted with blue and silver

House: First House; Clan Heir

Personality Traits: Even tempered, smart, kind, caring. Sly when needed to be. Doesn't think clearly when angered and swears mindlessly. Protects family with every ounce of will power she has.

Ninja Stat: Nemni-nin (**(1)** See below for explanation). Wields twin scimitars. Uses fire based jutsus, master of the Tsubasa kekkei genkai (**(7)** See below for explanation).

**Tsubasa Eternity**

Age: 11

Hair: Black hair with blue and silver streaks. Long, to her mid-back. Half of it is tied in a messy bun while the other half is let down.

Eyes: Black tinted with blue and silver

House: First House

Personality Traits: Mildly tempered, smart, kind, caring. Sly, likes to trick people. Swears loudly when irritated, not afraid to speak her mind. Protects her family no matter what.

Ninja Stat: Noma-nin (**(1)** See below for explanation), a fully trained medic-nin. Wields a katana. Uses fire based jutsus rarely, mostly heals. Partially mastered the Tsubasa kekkei genkai (**(7)** See below for explanation).

**Tsubasa Owen**

Age: 18

Hair: Sandy gold hair, streaked with black and pure gold; Front locks like Sasuke's, the back tied with a gold bandana

Eyes: Gold tinted with black and blue

House: Second House; House Heir

Personality Traits: Smart and reliable. Very polite and sticks to rules and orders. Very stupid when it comes to matters of the heart.

Ninja Stat: Nemni-nin (**(1)** See below for explanation). Weapon includes a book that can transforms into a staff with retractable blades at the top and bottom. Uses jutsus that allow words in book to 'come alive' and bind opponents. Partially mastered the Tsubasa kekkei genkai (**(7)** See below for explanation).

**Tsubasa Riku**

Age: 18

Hair: Black hair, streaked with purple; Long, tied in a low ponytail

Eyes: Dark violet tinted with blue and black

House: Third House; House Heir

Personality Traits: Calm, cool and collected. A twin personality of Neji. Respects and talks to only those who deserves it.

Ninja Stat: Nemni-nin (**(1)** See below for explanation). Wields a glaive. Uses jutsus that combine shadows with his own chakra (**(2)** For further explanation, look below) to make shadow weapons. Partially mastered the Tsubasa kekkei genkai (**(7)** See below for explanation).

**Tsubasa Manni**

Age: 17

Hair: Black hair, streaked with purple; Long, tied in a low ponytail

Eyes: Light purple tinted with blue and black

House: Third House; House Heir

Personality Traits: Twin personality of Riku (See above)

Ninja Stat: Nemni-nin (**(1)** See below for explanation). Wields a scythe. Uses jutsus that combine shadows with her own chakra (**(2)** For further explaination, look below) to strangle chakra from opponets. Master of the Tsubasa kekkei genkai (**(7)** See below for explanation).

**Tsubasa Sohlum**

Age: 16

Hair: Black hair, streaked with purple; Long, waist length, tied in a low ponytail, two locks shoulder length, fall to frame her face

Eyes: Violet, tinted with blue and black

House: Third House; one of the few trusted by Riku and Manni

Personality Traits: Carefree, very innocent and very dim to the workings of many things in the world. Kind and willing to help. Silent half of the time, understands the workings of the heart, respects those who show true power.

Ninja Stat: Otao-nin (**(1)** See below for explanation), assasin, poison expert. Wields a long bow. Uses jutsus that combine shadows with her own chakra (**(2)** For further explanation, look below) to form chakra arrows. Partially mastered the Tsubasa kekkei genkai (**(7)** See below for explanation).

**Tsubasa Longhi**

Age: 18

Hair: Silver with black and green natural highlights; A bit long and messy

Eyes: Emerald, tinted with chestnut, blue and black

House: Fourth House; House Heir; Tsubasa Messenger

Personality Traits: Goofy, silly and carefree. A joker, very stubborn, and rarely ever serious. A bit stupid to many things but understands the workings of a battle and serious when times call for it.

Ninja Stat: Nemni-nin (**(1)** See below for explanation), speed messenger. Wields a club. Uses earth based jutsus and jutsus that combine chakra with physical strength and speed (**(3)** See below for further explanation). Partially mastered the Tsubasa kekkei genkai (**(7)** See below for explanation).

**Tsubasa Sin-Lin**

Age: 17

Hair: Chestnut with black, green and silver streaks; Shoulder length

Eyes: Emerald, tinted with chestnut, blue and black

House: Fourth House; House Heir

Personality Traits: Carefree, jokester, funny and very, very stubborn. Cares about family and stupid to many things. Daredevil and rarely every thinks about safety or common sense. Knows the workings of a battle, serious when calls for.

Ninja Stat: Nemni-nin (**(1)** See below for explanation). Wields a spear. Uses earth based jutsus and jutsus that combine chakra with physical strength and speed (**(3)** See below for further explanation). Owns three nin-dogs as partners (**(4)** See below for further explanation) Partially mastered the Tsubasa kekkei genkai (**(7)** See below for explanation).

**Tsubasa Leo**

Age: 20

Hair: Chestnut hair, streaked with black and a crimson red; Similar to Gaara's only longer

Eyes: Ruby eyes, tinted with blue and black

House: Fifth House; former House Heir

Personality Traits: Prankster Master, funny, stupid and very loud. Goofs around most of the time, serious the other part of the time. Runs head first into danger if angered, defends Yuri whenever possible.

Ninja Stat: Nemni-nin (**(1)** See below for explanation). Weapon is a gauntlet with poison tipped retractable claws. Uses sand and wind based jutsus; pure physical strength combined with chakra (**(5)** See below for further explanation). Partially mastered the Tsubasa kekkei genkai (**(7)** See below for explanation).

**Tsubasa Tauro**

Age: 20

Hair: Black hair, streaked with chestnut and crimson red; Similar to Gaara's only longer

Eyes: Ruby eyes, tinted with blue and black

House: Fifth House; former House Heir

Personality Traits: Twin personality of Leo

Ninja Stat: Nemni-nin (**(1)** See below for explanation). Wields a mace with poison tipped retractable spikes. Uses sand and wind based jutsus; pure physical strength combined with chakra (**(5)** See below for further explanation). Partially mastered the Tsubasa kekkei genkai (**(7)** See below for explanation).

**Tsubasa Yuri**

Age: 17

Hair: Black, streaked with red; Long, to her hips, kept down. Brushed so it falls over half of her right eye.

Eyes: Crimson red eyes, tinted with blue and black

House: Fifth House; House Heir

Personality Traits: Easy to anger, horrible temper, serious, stoic. Silent and quiet most of the time. Holds a demanding presence, dangerous when angered. Places others before herself if needed.

Ninja Stat: Nemni-nin (**(1)** See below for explanation). Wields a whip that can turn into a snake (**(6)** See below for further explanation). Uses sand based jutsus and physical strength. Partially mastered the Tsubasa kekkei genkai.

**Tsubasa Sala**

Age: 17

Hair: Midnight blue hair with black shine and streaked with faded red. Long, half tied into two buns her head, the other half falling down to her hips in a slight wave. Two locks frame her face, one straight while the other wavy.

Eyes: Red-violet tinted with blue and black

House: Fifth House; alligences with Third House; trusted member of the Fifth House

Personality Traits: Easy to set off, swings moods easily. Innocent and cute looking at first glance and smiles a lot. Understands the workings of the human mind, evil half of the time, innocent with the other.

Ninja Stat: Nemni-nin (**(1)** See below for explanation); torturer. Wields a battle axe, keeps a boomerang as a spare weapon. Some skill in puppetry. Uses physical strength. Paritally mastered the Tsubasa kekkei genkai (**(7)** See below for explanation).

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**:INFORMATION: **

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**(1)** The Tsubasa Clan is an old clan that is in charge of protecting the Land of the Wings from danger. Each member of the clan is trained from child to adulthood to fight and defend. There are levels of ninja in the Tsubasa Clan system similar to the ways of the rest of the ninja world.

Lowest is **_Miro-nin_** or Achedemy students. They train until they can master basic jutsus such as Transformation Technique, Rope Escpae Technique, Body Replacement Technique, and Clone Technique.

Second lowest is _**Jokin-nin**_ or Genin. When a Miro-nin masters the basic jutsus (Some special students train from masters as apprentices, they don't attend the achedemy), they are given the Land of the Wings hitai-ate, or headband. Like genin, they do hard work, rarely ever 'real' ninja work and spend most of their time honing their skills.

Third level is _**Mimo-nin**_, the level between Genin and Chunnin. When a Tsubasa is able to summon their weapon, they advance to Mimo-nin. They get harder missions that test their strengths as they advance into more difficult training. This level usually lasts for at least a year or so.

Fourth level is _**Nazin-nin**_, Chunnin. When a Tsubasa masters the more advanced training, they move into Nazin-nin. These nin are able to lead other ninja, teaching them and becoming bosses or teachers themselves. The larger half of the Tsubasa Clan do not stop at this level though, only those who believe they cannot continue training. These nin do 'real' ninja work very rarely, only sent to battle when absolutely needed. These nin are usually found around achedemies or training others.

Fifth level is _**Otao-nin**_, or Jonin in their beginning years, somewhere around ANBU in their later years. When a Tsubasa is able to tap into their bird spirit's power, they are immediatly declared Otao-nin. Most members of the clan stop at this level, settling into the level and creating their own jutsus, gaining more power and harnessing it. Controlling their abilities comes second, though, to completing missions that they are given. These missions are more difficult than Nazin-nin missions and usually involve more powerful people to complete the job. When a Otao-nin is able to harness their power to a good level, they are somewhere around ANBU and given more specific missions or placed as security and bodyguards.

The final level is _**Nemni-nin**_, somewhere around S-class nin or ANBU. This level usually includes the most of the Clan leaders, very rarely any other members of the Tsubasa Clan. These nin only become where they are by showing that they can use the full powers of their bird spirit and able to control it. Nemni-nin are ninja who prove that they are exceptionally powerful, strong and capable of anything. Nemni-nin are classified as specialists in their area, including assasination, torture and tactics. The Clan Heir, as well as the House Heirs, are expected to enter the level of Nemni-nin or are deemed failiures.

Tsubasa medic-nin are of four levels.

**_Mikja-nin_**: Beginner medic-nin

**_Jungya-nin_**: Intermidiate medic-nin

**_Dana-nin_**: Advanced medic-nin

**_Noma-nin_**: Master medic-nin

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**(2)** In the Third House, members use jutsu's that include shadows. A typical Third House member uses their chakra and combines it with their own shadow so they have complete control over it. An average Third House member uses these shadows to sap chakra from an opponent nin to use for other purposes. For experts, like Manni and Riku, they use their shadows to sap chakra out of opponents to make their shadows larger and stronger. Using their more powerful shadow, they twist their chakra to mold into different shapes.

Riku uses a particular technique that molds his shadow into various weapons to throw at opponents. Manni uses this technique to turn into raw shards or arrows to pierce an opponent. These weapons can be used to pin and opponent own or kill them, depending on it's creator. If needed, they revert back to their original forms at it's master's will.

These techniques make the Third House the perfect assasins. Some Third House nin, like Sohlum, tip their twisted shadows with poison for swift kills.

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**(3)** Fourth House members are naturally gifted in physical strength and speed. They combine these natural gifts with chakra, giving them enhanced abilites. These abilities make Fourth House members choice soldiers, perfect for charging into battle and very good backup.

Fourth House members are also masters at Earth based jutsus because of the time they spend in forests and living in the wild. A small number of the Fourth House nin, only highly advanced members, are able to summon large trees or forests if needed.

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**(4)** Sin-Lin, because of a dog obsessed father, is bonded to three nin-dogs, Siberia, Malaysia and Tibet. These three nin-dogs also have the ability to turn into woodpeckers (Sin-Lin's bird spirit) because their master is bonded to that particular spirit. Sin-Lin uses her dogs in battle similar to Kiba. If needed, she uses various jutsus with them to enhance their abilites and senses.

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**(5)** Members of the Fifth House are blessed with physical strength more powerful than thatof Fourth House members. An average member of the Fifth House has natural physical strength equal to a Fourth House member's with chakra supporting it. Fifth House members use this physical strength to defeat their opponents, using basic taijutsu. Their natural endurace is high, making them good at pure one-on-one spars with no chakra.

Members of the Fifth House have some control of sand, being surrounded by it for most of their lives. By infusing various amounts of chakra into the sand, they can use it to harden around their bodies for a slightly durable and useful armor or to stun an opponent for a short amount of time. They also have some degree of control over wind, using wind based jutsus to enhance the power of their punches and kicks.

Yuri, being bonded to the spirit of the vulture, has power over sand almost in par with Gaara's. While Gaara's is soaked in blood, however, her's is soaked in the chakra of herself and her opponents.

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**(6)** Yuri is bonded to the spirit of th vulture and in turn, holds powers over the things of the vulture. One being that of sand, the other of a special breed of snakes. In the Forest of Chaos that surrounds the Land of the Wings, lies many dangerous species, including the very rare species called the Albino Boa Cobra. It is a special breed of reptile, a cross between a boa constrictor and a cobra.

It is highly intelligent and only listens to those it knows is more powerful. It's fangs holds poison that ensures a painful death in a minute at most. Vultures are the only creatures they truely respect, although they somewhat respect Setsuna and phoenix also. For that reason, Yuri is able to communicate and command albino boa cobras without having to fear them. Her connection to these reptiles make it so that her whip is able to turn into an albino boa cobra at her command.

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**(7)** The Tsubasa kekkei genkai is the blue tint in their eyes. The kekkei genkai, is an imitation of the Byakkugan and the Sharingan, but a weak one. When this kekkei genkai is activated, the user's eyes turn blue, and they are able to see the chakra levels and critical details of a certain person or motion. The power of the kekkei genkai is split into two main different jutsus.

The first being the Tsubasa Mimicry Jutsu. When activated, the Tsubasa's eyes turn blue and they copy the first jutsu or action that they witness. This jutsu, however, varies on how well the user is able to pick up the details of the jutsu, and the results can be poor if the user is not aware of something crucial or excellent if they pay attention to every detail and action and mimic's it perfectly. Mastering this jutsu is a must for every member of the clan, required to be accepted as a true member of the clan.

The second jutsu, and more difficult one, is the Tsubasa Imitation Jutsu. This jutsu is a larger, more powerful version of the Mimicry Jutsu and very difficult to master. When activated, the Tsubasa's eyes turn blue and they copy the first jutsu or action they see. The difference between this jutsu and the Mimicry one is that this jutsu is able to copy more powerful jutsu and, in the power of a true master, able to copy kekkei genkai.

The user of the Imitation Jutsu, however, has to pay attention to every spot, every motion, every action and how much chakra used and executed to imitate kekkei genkai, though, and incredibly difficult to do. If the user wishes to copy the kekkei genkai of a Hyuuga or an Uchiha, they must maintain direct eye contact and memorize and copy every detail in the other's eyes. Every ounce of chakra used must be copied and used to the last drip and every motion but be the same, or else disasters may occur. If done correctly, the user is able to activate a bloodlimit equal in power to that of the Hyuuga or Uchiha or a jutsu identical to that of the other.

There are side effects to the Imitation Jutsu, as well as the Mimicry if the jutsu is too advanced for the user. These side effects vary on the jutsu or kekkei genkai, how much energy was spent by the Tsubasa, if there were any mistakes, and how long the jutsu or kekkei genkai was used. An example of this would be Manni, who imitated Neji's Byakugan and used it for a bit longer than planned. The effects of the Imitation Jutsu rendered her blind for several minutes and confusion to her mind.

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Message me if you want to know more. 


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